Hetero-transglycosylase and uses thereof

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a hetero-transglycosylase protein having cellulose:xyloglucan endotransglucosylase (CXE) activity in addition to mixed-linkage beta-glucan:xyloglucan endotransglucosylase (MXE) activity. The protein may comprise the amino acid sequence of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 2, 6 and 8 or a functional fragment thereof; or an amino acid sequence having at least 60% sequence identity to any one of SEQ ID NO: 2, 6 and 8, or to SEQ ID NO: 2 from amino acid 22 to 280, to SEQ ID NO: 6 from amino acid 26 to 283, or to SEQ ID NO: 8 from amino acid 29 to 287. The invention furthermore relates to an isolated nucleic acid encoding the protein described herein, a chimeric gene comprising, inter alia, the nucleic acid described herein, a vector comprising said chimeric gene, a host cell comprising said vector or said chimeric gene and an according transgenic plant. Further disclosed herein in are a method of producing a transgenic plant and a method of improving properties of cellulosic material.

The present invention relates to hetero-transglycosylase (HTG) proteins having cellulose:xyloglucan endotransglucosylase (CXE) activity in addition to mixed-linkage beta-glucan:xyloglucan endotransglucosylase (MXE) activity. The protein may comprise the amino acid sequence of any one of SEQ ID NO: 2, 6 and 8 or a functional fragment thereof; or the protein may comprise an amino acid sequence having at least 60% sequence identity to any one of SEQ ID NOs: 2, 6 and 8 or to SEQ ID NO: 2 from amino acid 22 to 280, to SEQ ID NO: 6 from amino acid 26 to 283, or to SEQ ID NO: 8 from amino acid 29 to 287. The invention furthermore relates to an isolated nucleic acid encoding the protein described herein, a chimeric gene comprising, inter alia, the nucleic acid described herein, a vector comprising said chimeric gene, a host cell comprising said vector or said chimeric gene and transgenic plant comprising said chimeric gene. Further disclosed herein are a method of producing a transgenic plant and a method of altering at least one fiber property in a fiber-producing plant or for strengthening a plant as characterized in the claims.

In this specification, a number of documents including patent applications and manufacturers' manuals are cited. The disclosure of these documents, while not considered relevant for the patentability of this invention, is herewith incorporated by reference in its entirety. More specifically, all referenced documents are incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual document was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference.

The structural integrity of land plants is mediated in large part by the cell walls surrounding plant cells which are held responsible for strength and flexibility of plants. Besides this function, plant cell walls are also important for intercellular cohesion and cell-to-cell communication. Porosity of the cell walls enable water and nutrient exchange. The primary cell walls of vascular plants consist of cellulose microfibrils embedded in a chemically complex matrix consisting of polysaccharides such as mainly xyloglucans and pectic polysaccharides in dicotyledonous plants and many monocotyledonous plants or glucuronoarabinoxylans and (1,3;1,4)-beta-D-glucans mainly in grasses and cereals. Although the types and abundance of polysaccharides in plant cell walls have been elucidated so far, only little information is available on the molecular interactions between polysaccharides in the cell wall. Extensive intermolecular hydrogen bonding rather than covalent interactions has very long been held responsible for holding different polysaccharides in place (Bacic et al. 1988; Somerville et al. 2004).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Xyloglucans have been found to be an important factor in cell wall morphogenesis (reviewed in Baumann et al., 2007) and are able to make hydrogen bonds to cellulose, for reference see The Plant Journal, 1993, p. 1-30.

Polysaccharide transglycosylases, also called polysaccharide transglycanases, catalyze the reorganization of polysaccharide molecules by cleaving glycosidic linkages in polysaccharide chains and transferring their cleaved portions to hydroxyl groups at non-reducing residues of other polysaccharide or oligosaccharide molecules (reviewed by Franková and Fry, 2013; herewith incorporated by reference). Examples of transglycosylases are transglucosylases (also called transglucanases), transxylanases and transmannanases. Of these, Xyloglucan endotransglucosylases (XETs; also called xyloglucan endotransglucanases, or XTHs or xyloglucan xyloglucosyl transferases) restructure xyloglucan in primary and secondary cell walls of land plants including Equisetum and liverworts (Fry et al., 1992; Fry et al. 2008). Unlike most other land plants tested, Equisetum additionally exhibits a distinct endotransglucosylase (or endotransglucanase) called mixed-linkage beta-glucan:xyloglucan endotransglucosylase (MXE) (or mixed-linkage beta-glucan: xyloblucan endotransglucanase). The latter enzyme uses mixed-linkage (1,3;1,4)-beta-glucan (MLG) as the donor substrate and attaches it covalently to xyloglucan or a fragment thereof (Fry et al., 2008). So far, enzymes catalyzing hetero transglycosylation, i. e. using qualitatively different donor and acceptor substrates, have been found but not characterized in detail (Ait Mohand and Farkaš, 2006), or have been found to only have a minor hetero-transglycosylation activity (Hrmova et al., see below).

It has been shown that xyloglucans are covalently linked to pectic polysaccharides (Thompson and Fry 2000). Evidence for covalent linkage between xyloglucan and acidic pectins in suspension-cultured rose cells is described in Abdel-Massih et al. (2003) and Cumming et al. (2005). Furthermore, Hrmova et al. have shown that an XET from barley links MLG, hydroxyethylcellulose and sulfuric acid swollen cellulose (i. e. cellulose sulfate) to xyloglucan (Hrmova et al. 2007). In its capacity to link MLG to xyloglucan, this barley enzyme exhibits MXE activity which, however, amounts only to about 0.2% of its XET activity.

DISCLOSURE OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

So far no transglucosylase activity has been described that covalently attaches insoluble cellulose to xyloglucan. Such activity could have important applications in the functionalization of cellulosic materials such as textiles, paper or wood pulp.

Accordingly, in a first embodiment, the present invention relates to a protein having cellulose:xyloglucan endotransglucosylase (CXE) activity.

In one embodiment, the protein is derived from Equisetum, such as Equisetum fluviatile, Equisetum hyemale, or Equisetum diffusum.

In another embodiment, the protein comprises (a) the amino acid sequence of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 2, 6 and 8 or a functional fragment thereof; or (b) an amino acid sequence having at least 60% sequence identity to the sequence of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 2, 6 and 8; or (c) an amino acid sequence having at least 60% sequence identity to the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 from amino acid 22 to 280, to the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 6 from amino acid 26 to 283, or to the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 8 from amino acid 29 to 287.

Unless indicated otherwise, the embodiments and examples described below for certain aspects disclosed herein are also applicable to respective embodiments of other aspects disclosed herein.

The term “protein” as used herein describes a group of molecules consisting of more than 30 amino acids, whereas the term “peptide” describes molecules consisting of up to 30 amino acids. Proteins and peptides may further form dimers, trimers and higher oligomers, i.e. consisting of more than one (poly)peptide molecule. Protein or peptide molecules forming such dimers, trimers etc. may be identical or non-identical. The corresponding higher order structures are, consequently, termed homo- or heterodimers, homo- or heterotrimers etc. The terms “protein” and “peptide” also refer to naturally modified proteins or peptides wherein the modification is effected e.g. by glycosylation, acetylation, phosphorylation and the like. Such modifications are well known in the art.

Cellulose:xyloglucan endotransglucosylase (CXE) activity denotes the activity of the protein of the invention to catalyse the transfer of glucan (or cello-oligosaccharides) units from cellulose as the donor molecule to xyloglucan (or oligosaccharides thereof) as acceptor molecule. More particularly, the protein of the invention cleaves a β-(1→4)-glucose bond in a cellulose chain, and then re-forms a glycosidic bond to a non-reducing residue of a xyloglucan polymer or oligomer, the acceptor substrate.

As used herein, the term “comprising” is to be interpreted as specifying the presence of the stated features, integers, steps or components as referred to, but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more features, integers, steps or components, or groups thereof. Thus, e.g., a nucleic acid or protein comprising a sequence of nucleotides or amino acids, may comprise more nucleotides or amino acids than the actually cited ones, i.e., be embedded in a larger nucleic acid or protein or attached to another nucleic acid or protein stretch. A chimeric gene comprising a DNA region which is functionally or structurally defined may accordingly comprise additional DNA regions etc. However, in context with the present disclosure, the term “comprising” also includes “consisting of”.

A “functional fragment” of the amino acid sequences of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 2, 6 and 8 denotes a protein or peptide comprising a stretch of the amino acid sequences listed above which still exerts the desired function, i. e. which has cellulose:xyloglucan endotransglucosylase activity. An assay for determining of whether a functional fragment has cellulose:xyloglucan endotransglucosylase activity is disclosed in the appended examples. An example of a functional fragment of the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 is the fragment comprising amino acids 22 to 280 of SEQ ID NO: 2; an example of a functional fragment of the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 6 is the fragment comprising amino acids 26 to 283 of SEQ ID NO: 6, and an example of a functional fragment of the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 8 is the fragment comprising amino acids 29 to 287 of SEQ ID NO: 8.

In one aspect, the present protein having cellulose:xyloglucan endotransglucosylase activity comprises an amino acid sequence having at least 50%, at least 60%, at least 70%, at least 80%, at least 90%, at least 95% or at least 98% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 2 or to SEQ ID NO: 2 from amino acid 22 to 280 or to SEQ ID NO: 6 or to SEQ ID NO: 6 from amino acid 26 to 283, or to SEQ ID NO: 8, or to SEQ ID NO: 8 from amino acid 29 to 287. Such amino acid sequences also include artificially derived amino acid sequences, such as those generated, for example, by mutagenesis of the nucleic acids encoding the amino acid of SEQ ID NO: 2 or of SEQ ID NO: 2 from amino acid 22 to 280 or of SEQ ID NO: 6 or of SEQ ID NO: 6 from amino acid 26 to 283, or of SEQ ID NO: 8, or of SEQ ID NO: 8 from amino acid 29 to 287. Generally, amino acid sequences disclosed herein may have at least 50%, such as 52%, 54%, 56%, 58%, at least 60%, such as 62%, 64%, 66%, 68%, at least 70%, such as 72%, 74%, 75%, 76%, 78%, at least 80%, e.g., 81% to 84%, at least 85%, e.g., 86%, 87%, 88%, 89%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, to 98%, and 99% sequence identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 or of SEQ ID NO: 2 from amino acid 22 to 280 or of SEQ ID NO: 6 or of SEQ ID NO: 6 from amino acid 26 to 283, or of SEQ ID NO: 8, or of SEQ ID NO: 8 from amino acid 29 to 287.

As used herein, the term “percent sequence identity” refers to the percentage of identical amino acids between two segments of a window of optimally aligned amino acid sequences. Optimal alignment of sequences for aligning a comparison window are well-known to those skilled in the art and may be conducted by tools such as the local homology algorithm of Smith and Waterman (Waterman, M. S., Chapman & Hall. London, 1995), the homology alignment algorithm of Needleman and Wunsch (1970), the search for similarity method of Pearson and Lipman (1988), and preferably by computerized implementations of these algorithms such as GAP, BESTFIT, FASTA, and TFASTA available as part of the GCG (Registered Trade Mark), Wisconsin Package (Registered Trade Mark from Accelrys Inc., San Diego, Calif.). An “identity fraction” for aligned segments of a test sequence and a reference sequence is the number of identical components that are shared by the two aligned sequences divided by the total number of components in the reference sequence segment, i.e., the entire reference sequence or a smaller defined part of the reference sequence. Percent sequence identity is represented as the identity fraction times 100. The comparison of one or more amino acid or DNA sequences may be to a full-length amino acid or DNA sequence or a portion thereof, or to a longer amino acid or DNA sequence. Sequence identity is calculated based on the shorter nucleotide or amino acid sequence.

Only proteins which have cellulose:xyloglucan endotransglucosylase activity are encompassed by the present invention. Proteins having cellulose:xyloglucan endotransglucosylase activity disclosed herein include the amino acid sequences disclosed herein and those with the indicated degree of sequence identity but also deletions of sequence, single or multiple sequence alterations or addition of functional elements as long as cellulose:xyloglucan endotransglucosylase activity is essentially retained. Techniques for obtaining such derivatives are well-known in the art (see, for example, J. F. Sambrook, D. W. Russell, and N. Irwin, 2000). For example, one of ordinary skill in the art may delimit the functional elements within the protein disclosed herein and delete any non-essential elements. The functional elements may be modified or combined to increase the utility or expression of the sequences of the invention for any particular application. Those of skill in the art are familiar with the standard resource materials that describe specific conditions and procedures for the construction, manipulation, and isolation of macromolecules (e.g. DNA molecules, plasmids, proteins etc.), as well as the generation of recombinant organisms and the screening and isolation of DNA molecules and proteins.

The present inventors, for the first time, show that hetero-transglucosylases exist which are able to directly link cellulose to xyloglucan.

As described above, Baumann et al. describe the enzymatic activity of NXG1 from Tropaeolum majus which can use cello-oligosaccharides as acceptors. They observed, inter alia, cellobiose, cellotriose and cellotetraose products. This partly contradicts the findings of Ait Mohand et al. (2006) who could show such products when applying fluorescent dyes in the detection method but not when radio-labeled probes were used. The authors concluded that the detected activity could be an artificial one attributed to the presence of the fluorescent dye within the cellooligosaccharides used as acceptor. Hrmova et al. (2007) demonstrated that a purified XET from barley seedlings catalyzes in vitro formation of covalent linkages between certain soluble substrates (such as hydroxyethylcellulose and cellulose sulfate) and xyloglucan. The authors indicate that such activity has not been demonstrated to have any in muro significance. Such demonstration would require isolation of a short fragment of 10 or fewer glycosyl residues that can be clearly shown to originate from two distinct polysaccharide types such as cellulose and xyloglucan.

So far, no enzymatic activity linking cellulose to xyloglucan has been demonstrated, as opposed to soluble cellulosic material such as hydroxyethylcellulose or sulfuric acid swollen cellulose. As shown in the appended examples, the nucleic acids encoding an enzyme with such activity have been found in Equisetum by the present inventors. By a novel method enabling to directly measure the new activity with cellulose as donor they could surprisingly show that the novel enzyme is able to transfer the insoluble donor cellulose to the soluble xyloglucan whereas previous studies could only identify an enzymatic activity on soluble cellulose derivatives. By comparing the results obtained therewith with those obtained for other donor-acceptor combinations, the present inventors in addition showed that the novel activity is one of the predominant activities of the protein of the invention.

In one embodiment, said cellulose:xyloglucan endotransglucosylase activity is one of the predominant activities of the protein.

The term “predominant activity” denotes an activity of the protein disclosed herein as cellulose:xyloglucan endotransglucosylase which is at least 5% that of the highest activity on other donors/acceptors. In one example, the activity is at least 10%, at least 20%, at least 30%, at least 40%, at least 50%, at least the same (at least 100%), at least 200%, at least 500% or at least 1000% that of the highest activity on other donors/acceptors. The protein of the invention may have more than one predominant activity such as two or three which preferably differ by the factor of 10 or less. The protein of the invention may also have one or more activities related to soluble cellulose derivatives such as water-soluble cellulose acetate, hydroxyethylcellulose, carboxymethylcellulose, cellulose sulphate.

Methods of measuring and comparing an enzyme's activity on different soluble donor/acceptor combinations are known in the art and can also be found in the appended examples. A method to determine an enzyme's activity on (insoluble) cellulose as the donor molecule is disclosed in the appended examples. The nature of the soluble or insoluble donor molecules does not allow a determination of enzymatic activity under strictly the same conditions because e. g. cellulose as an insoluble donor molecule is much less accessible to the enzyme than soluble donor molecules. However, for the purpose of the present invention, a comparison between different activities can be conducted under conditions described in the appended examples for soluble and insoluble donor molecules.

In one example, the protein of the invention further has MXE activity.

Also disclosed is an isolated nucleic acid encoding the protein disclosed herein.

Nucleic acids can be DNA or RNA, single- or double-stranded. Nucleic acids can be synthesized chemically or produced by biological expression in vitro or even in vivo. Nucleic acids can be chemically synthesized using appropriately protected ribonucleoside phosphoramidites and a conventional DNA/RNA synthesizer. Suppliers of RNA synthesis reagents are Proligo (Hamburg, Germany), Dharmacon Research (Lafayette, Colo., USA), Pierce Chemical (part of Perbio Science, Rockford, Ill., USA), Glen Research (Sterling, Va., USA), ChemGenes (Ashland, Mass., USA), and Cruachem (Glasgow, UK).

In connection with the chimeric gene of the present disclosure, DNA includes cDNA and genomic DNA.

An “isolated nucleic acid” or “isolated nucleic acid sequence”, as used in the present application, refers to a nucleic acid as defined above which is not naturally-occurring (such as an artificial or synthetic nucleic acid with a different nucleotide sequence than the naturally-occurring nucleic acid or a nucleic acid which is shorter than a naturally occurring one) or which is no longer in the natural environment wherein it was originally present, e.g., a nucleic acid coding sequence associated with a heterologous regulatory element (such as a bacterial coding sequence operably-linked to a plant-expressible promoter) in a chimeric gene or a nucleic acid transferred into another host cell, such as a transgenic plant cell.

The protein having cellulose:xyloglucan endotransglucosylase (CXE) activity according to the invention can be a HTG protein.

A “HTG protein”, also called “HTG-enzyme”, “hetero-trans-β-glucanase”, or “hetero-trans-β-glucosylase”, as used herein is a hetero-transglycosylase, or hetero-transglycanase, of which the major activity is a hetero-transglucosylase activity. Said major activity can be at least 50%, at least 60%, or at least 70% of the total activity. A HTG can have MXE and CXE activity.

The nucleic acid encoding the protein having cellulose:xyloglucan endotransglucosylase (CXE) activity, or said HTG protein, could be introduced into other plants to create modified cellulose microfibrils in the living plant, e. g. crop plant.

It is believed that expressing the present nucleic acid in a plant results in an activity of the resulting enzyme which covalently links some of the plant's cellulose molecules to its endogenous xyloglucan, thus strengthening the cell wall, e.g. in plant fiber products.

Wall strengthening could also be useful in any crop plant, e.g. to minimize lodging of (crop) plants such as cereals or oilseeds or to enhance the strength of wood or crop plants.

Alternatively, a plant expressing the nucleic acid disclosed herein could be either fed, or genetically altered to synthesise endogenously, xyloglucan, wherein said xyloglucan, in case of feeding optionally has a further organic or inorganic molecule attached to it (as described further below). Potential applications include: cellulosic paper, cellulosic textiles e.g. cotton or linen, cellulosic packaging e.g. cardboard, cellulosic building materials e.g. timber and chipboard, cellulosic derivatives e.g. carboxymethylcellulose or cellulose acetate, thickening agents e.g. xanthan gum or derivatives thereof, cellulosic medical dressings e.g. cotton wool, gauzes, cellophane, dialysis tubing, cellulosic chromatography column packing materials; the attached organic or inorganic substances could be selected to enable affinity chromatography.

In another example, the plant expressing the nucleic acid disclosed herein could be harvested under conditions maintaining the activities of the HTG enzyme, e.g. in plant fibers, such that xyloglucan or a xyloglucan oligosaccharide, optionally having an organic or inorganic substance attached thereto could be incorporated into the cellulose post-harvest with no further addition of enzyme. Potential applications are listed above. Alternatively, the HTG protein could be expressed heterologously, e.g. in a micro-organism, and, after isolation, applied post-harvest to unmodified plant fibers or (plant-derived) cellulose in the presence of xyloglucan or a xyloglucan oligosaccharide, optionally having an organic or inorganic molecule attached thereto, to which the cellulose would become attached covalently.

In summary, by adding the protein of the invention to insoluble cellulosic material, i. e. material comprising cellulose, the present inventors are able to increase the amount of xyloglucan mediated interlinkages between the cellulosic fibers. Hereby they have created an environmentally friendly enzymatic process for improving the strength and/or other properties of various cellulosic materials as an alternative to the chemical processes known so far. Alternatively, the protein of the invention allows covalently attachment of new functionalities to the cellulose through covalent linkage of modified xyloglucans.

In one example, the isolated nucleic acid comprises a nucleic acid having at least 60% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 1, or SEQ ID NO: 5, or SEQ ID NO: 7 or the complement thereof, or a nucleic acid having at least 60% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 1 from nucleotide 64 to 840 or the complement thereof, or to SEQ ID NO: 5 from nucleotide 76 to 849 or the complement thereof, or to SEQ ID NO: 7 from nucleotide 85 to 861 or the complement thereof, or a nucleic acid sequence hybridizing under high stringency conditions to the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1, or SEQ ID NO: 5, or SEQ ID NO: 7 or the complement thereof. Said isolated nucleic acid may also comprise or consist of the nucleic acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1 or of SEQ ID NO: 1 from nucleotide 64 to 840 or of SEQ ID NO: 5 or of SEQ ID NO: 5 from nucleotide 76 to 849 or of SEQ ID NO: 7, or of SEQ ID NO: 7 from nucleotide 85 to 861 or the complement thereof. Further provided is a nucleic acid, which may be an isolated nucleic acid having at least 60% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 1 from nucleotide 64 to 840 or the complement thereof, provided that nucleotide 1 to 63 are not present, or to SEQ ID NO: 5 from nucleotide 76 to 849 or the complement thereof provided that nucleotide 1 to 75 are not present, or to SEQ ID NO: 7 from nucleotide 85 to 861 or the complement thereof, provided that nucleotide 1 to 84 are not present. Further provided is a nucleic acid, which may be an isolated nucleic acid, encoding a protein comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 60% sequence identity to the sequence of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 2, 6 and 8 of which codon usage is adapted for expression in bacteria, or for expression in yeast, or for expression in plants.

Codon usage can be optimized, for example, as described by Moreira, 2004.

Also disclosed herein is a chimeric gene comprising the following operably linked elements: (a) a promoter, e. g. a promoter expressible in plants, bacteria or yeast; (b) the nucleic acid capable of modulating expression of the protein as described herein; and, optionally, (c) a transcription termination and polyadenylation region.

A nucleic acid capable of modulating expression of the protein as described herein can be a nucleic acid capable of downregulating expression of the protein as described herein.

In another embodiment, said nucleic acid capable of modulating expression of the protein of the invention is selected from the group consisting of a nucleic acid sequence encoding the protein according to the invention; a nucleic acid sequence having at least 60% sequence identity to any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 5 and 7 or the complement thereof; a nucleic acid sequence having at least 60% sequence identity to the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1 from nucleotide 64 to 840 or the complement thereof, to the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 5 from nucleotide 76 to 849 or the complement thereof, or to the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 7 from nucleotide 85 to 861 or the complement thereof; and a nucleic acid sequence hybridizing under high stringency conditions to the sequence of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 5 and 7 or the complement thereof.

An nucleic acid capable of downregulating or, in other words, decreasing expression of the protein as described herein can be an nucleic acid encoding a protein which inhibits expression and/or activity of said protein. Further, said nucleic acid molecule that results in a decreased expression of the protein as described herein can also be a nucleic acid molecule which inhibits expression of a gene which is an activator of expression of said protein. Said nucleic acid molecule that inhibits the expression of the protein as described herein may also be an RNA molecule that directly inhibits expression of said protein, such as an RNA which mediates silencing of the gene encoding said protein.

Decreasing the expression and/or activity of the protein of the invention can be decreasing the amount of functional protein produced. Said decrease can be a decrease with at least 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 95% or 100% (i.e. no functional protein is produced by the cell) as compared to the amount of functional protein produced by a cell with wild type expression levels and activity. Said decrease in expression can be a constitutive decrease in the amount of functional protein produced. Said decrease can also be a temporal/inducible decrease in the amount of functional protein produced.

The expression of the gene encoding the protein according to the invention can conveniently be reduced or eliminated by transcriptional or post-transcriptional silencing of the expression of endogenous gene. To this end and within the chimeric gene described above, a silencing RNA molecule is introduced in the plant cells targeting the endogenous genes encoding the protein of the invention. As used herein, “silencing RNA” or “silencing RNA molecule” refers to any RNA molecule, which upon introduction into a cell, reduces the expression of a target gene. Such silencing RNA may e.g. be so-called “antisense RNA”, whereby the RNA molecule comprises a sequence of at least 20 consecutive nucleotides having 95% sequence identity to the complement of the sequence of the target nucleic acid, preferably the coding sequence of the target gene. However, antisense RNA may also be directed to regulatory sequences of target genes, including the promoter sequences and transcription termination and polyadenylation signals. Silencing RNA further includes so-called “sense RNA” whereby the RNA molecule comprises a sequence of at least 20 consecutive nucleotides having 95% sequence identity to the sequence of the target nucleic acid. Other silencing RNA may be “unpolyadenylated RNA” comprising at least 20 consecutive nucleotides having 95% sequence identity to the complement of the sequence of the target nucleic acid, such as described in WO01/12824 or U.S. Pat. No. 6,423,885 (both documents herein incorporated by reference). Yet another type of silencing RNA is an RNA molecule as described in WO03/076619 (herein incorporated by reference) comprising at least 20 consecutive nucleotides having at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97% at least 98%, at least 99% or 100% sequence identity to the sequence of the target nucleic acid or the complement thereof, and further comprising a largely-double stranded region as described in WO03/076619 (including largely double stranded regions comprising a nuclear localization signal from a viroid of the Potato spindle tuber viroid-type or comprising CUG trinucleotide repeats). Silencing RNA may also be double stranded RNA comprising a sense and antisense strand as herein defined, wherein the sense and antisense strand are capable of base-pairing with each other to form a double stranded RNA region (preferably the said at least 20 consecutive nucleotides of the sense and antisense RNA are complementary to each other). The sense and antisense region may also be present within one RNA molecule such that a hairpin RNA (hpRNA) can be formed when the sense and antisense region form a double stranded RNA region. hpRNA is well-known within the art (see e.g WO99/53050, herein incorporated by reference). The hpRNA may be classified as long hpRNA, having long, sense and antisense regions which can be largely complementary, but need not be entirely complementary (typically larger than about 200 bp, ranging between 200-1000 bp). hpRNA can also be rather small ranging in size from about 30 to about 42 bp, but not much longer than 94 bp (see WO04/073390, herein incorporated by reference). An ihpRNA is an intron-containing hairpin RNA, which has the same general structure as an hpRNA, but the RNA molecule additionally comprises an intron in the loop of the hairpin that is capable of being spliced in the cell in which the ihpRNA is expressed. The use of an intron minimizes the size of the loop in the hairpin RNA molecule following splicing, and this increases the efficiency of interference. See, for example, Smith et al (2000) Nature 407:319-320. In fact, Smith et al, show 100% suppression of endogenous gene expression using ihpRNA-mediated interference. In some embodiments, the intron is the ADHI intron 1. Methods for using ihpRNA interference to inhibit the expression of endogenous plant genes are described, for example, in Smith et al, (2000) Nature 407:319-320; Waterhouse and Helliwell, (2003) Nat. Rev. Genet. 4:29-38; Helliwell and Waterhouse, (2003) Methods 30:289-295 and US2003180945, each of which is herein incorporated by reference. A transient assay for the efficiency of hpRNA constructs to silence gene expression in vivo has been described by Panstruga, et al. (2003). The chimeric gene for hpRNA interference may also be designed such that the sense sequence and the antisense sequence do not correspond to an endogenous RNA. In this embodiment, the sense and antisense sequence flank a loop sequence that comprises a nucleotide sequence corresponding to all or part of the endogenous messenger RNA of the target gene present in the plant. Thus, it is the loop region that determines the specificity of the RNA interference. See, for example, WO0200904 herein incorporated by reference.

Silencing RNA may also be artificial micro-RNA molecules as described e.g. in WO2005/052170, WO2005/047505 or US 2005/0144667, or ta-siRNAs as described in WO2006/074400 (all documents incorporated herein by reference).

A chimeric gene is an artificial gene constructed by operably linking fragments of unrelated genes or other nucleic acid sequences. In other words “chimeric gene” denotes a gene which is not normally found in a plant species or refers to any gene in which the promoter or one or more other regulatory regions of the gene are not associated in nature with a part or all of the transcribed nucleic acid, i. e. are heterologous with respect to the transcribed nucleic acid. More particularly, a chimeric gene is an artificial, i. e. non-naturally occurring, gene produced by an operable linkage of a promoter expressible in plants and the nucleic acid disclosed herein, such as the nucleic acid comprising the nucleic acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1 or of SEQ ID NO: 1 from nucleotide 64 to 840 or of SEQ ID NO: 5 or of SEQ ID NO: 5 from nucleotide 76 to 849, or of SEQ ID NO: 7, or of SEQ ID NO: 7 from nucleotide 85 to 861, or a functional fragment of any one of these sequences, or a nucleic acid sequence having at least 60% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:1 or to SEQ ID NO: 1 from nucleotide 64 to 840 or of SEQ ID NO: 5 or of SEQ ID NO: 5 from nucleotide 76 to 849, or of SEQ ID NO: 7, or of SEQ ID NO: 7 from nucleotide 85 to 861 any of which encode a protein having cellulose:xyloglucan endotransglucosylase activity, wherein said plant expressible promoter is not naturally operably linked to said nucleic acid.

The term “heterologous” refers to the relationship between two or more nucleic acid or protein sequences that are derived from different sources. For example, a promoter is heterologous with respect to an operably linked nucleic acid sequence, such as a coding sequence, if such a combination is not normally found in nature. In addition, a particular sequence may be “heterologous” with respect to a cell or organism into which it is inserted (i.e. does not naturally occur in that particular cell or organism). For example, the chimeric gene disclosed herein is a heterologous nucleic acid.

The expression “operably linked” means that said elements of the chimeric gene are linked to one another in such a way that their function is coordinated and allows expression of the coding sequence, i.e. they are functionally linked. By way of example, a promoter is functionally linked to another nucleic acid sequence when it is capable of ensuring transcription and ultimately expression of said nucleic acid sequence, and two protein encoding nucleotide sequences, e.g. a signal peptide encoding nucleic acid sequence and a nucleic acid sequence encoding a protein having cellulose:xyloglucan endotransglucosylase activity, are functionally or operably linked to each other if they are connected in such a way that a fusion protein of first and second protein or polypeptide can be formed.

A promoter may be any regulatory element being able to drive expression of a gene in a desired host cell or organism, such as plant cells and plants, bacteria or yeast. For the case of plants, use may be made of any promoter sequence of a gene which is naturally expressed in plants, such as for example promoters of bacterial, viral or plant origin. Promoters may generally be constitutive or inducible.

A plant expressible promoter can be a constitutive promoter, i.e. a promoter capable of directing high levels of expression in most cell types (in a spatio-temporal independent manner).

Examples of plant expressible constitutive promoters include promoters of bacterial origin, such as the octopine synthase (OCS) and nopaline synthase (NOS) promoters from Agrobacterium, but also promoters of viral origin, such as that of the cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S transcript (Hapster et al., 1988) or 19S RNA genes (Odell et al., 1985; U.S. Pat. No. 5,352,605; WO 84/02913; Benfey et al., 1989), promoters of the cassava vein mosaic virus (CsVMV; WO 97/48819, U.S. Pat. No. 7,053,205), the circovirus (AU 689 311) promoter, the sugarcane bacilliform badnavirus (ScBV) promoter (Samac et al., 2004), the figwort mosaic virus (FMV) promoter (Sanger et al., 1990), the subterranean clover virus promoter No 4 or No 7 (WO 96/06932) and the enhanced 35S promoter as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,164,316, 5,196,525, 5,322,938, 5,359,142 and 5,424,200. Among the promoters of plant origin, mention will be made of the promoters of the plant ribulose-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) small subunit promoter (U.S. Pat. No. 4,962,028), the promoter of the Arabidopsis thaliana histone H4 gene (Chabouté et al., 1987), the ubiquitin promoters (Holtorf et al., 1995) of Maize, Rice and sugarcane, the Rice actin 1 promoter (Act-1, U.S. Pat. No. 5,641,876), the histone promoters as described in EP 0 507 698 A1 and the Maize alcohol dehydrogenase 1 promoter (Adh-1).

Alternatively, a promoter sequence specific for particular regions, tissues or organs of plants can be used to express the protein disclosed herein. Examples of such promoters that can be used are tissue-specific or organ-specific promoters like organ primordia-specific promoters (An et al., 1996), stem-specific promoters (Keller et al., 1988), mesophyll-specific promoters (such as the light-inducible Rubisco promoters), fiber-specific promoters such as the fiber-specific promoter of the fiber-specific β-tubulin gene (as described in WO0210377), of a fiber-specific actin gene (as described in WO0210413), of a fiber specific lipid transfer protein gene (as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,792,933), the promoter from the seed coat and fiber-specific protease (Hou et al., 2008), the promoter from fiber-specific R2R3 MYB gene from cotton (Pu et al., 2008), a promoter from an expansin gene from cotton (WO9830698), a promoter from a chitinase gene in cotton (US2003106097), the promoter of CesA1 (U.S. Pat. No. 6,271,443), the F286 promoter (see US2003/106097), the cotton E6 promoter (see U.S. Pat. No. 6,096,950) or the promoters of the fiber specific genes described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,259,003 or 6,166,294 or WO96040924), root-specific promoters (Keller et al., 1989), vascular tissue-specific promoters (Peleman et al), seed-specific promoters (Datla, R. et al., 1997), especially the napin promoter (EP 255 378 A1), the phaseolin promoter, the glutenin promoter, the petunia FBP7 promoter, the helianthinin promoter (WO 92/17580), the albumin promoter (WO 98/45460), the oleosin promoter (WO 98/45461), the SAT1 promoter or the SAT3 promoter (PCT/US98/06978), and the like.

Use may also be made of an inducible promoter advantageously chosen from the phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL), HMG-CoA reductase (HMG), chitinase, glucanase, proteinase inhibitor (PI), PR1 family gene, nopaline synthase (nos) and vspB promoters (U.S. Pat. No. 5,670,349, Table 3), the HMG2 promoter (U.S. Pat. No. 5,670,349), the apple beta-galactosidase (ABG1) promoter and the apple aminocyclopropane carboxylate synthase (ACC synthase) promoter (WO 98/45445).

Suitable promoters for (inducible) expression in bacteria are well-known in the art and include the T3 or T7 promoters (in connection with the expression of a T3 or T7 RNA polymerase), the lac promoter, the trc and tac promoters, the phage promoter pL, the tetA promoter and the PPBAD or rhaPBAD promoters.

Promoters suitable for expression in yeasts are well-known in the art and include the TEF promoter, the CYC1 promoter, the ADH1 promoter, the AOX1 promoter (methanol inducible) and the GAL promoter and variants thereof.

The (plant expressible) promoter may for example be altered to contain e. g. “enhancer DNA” to assist in elevating gene expression. As is well-known in the art, certain DNA elements can be used to enhance the transcription of DNA. These enhancers are often found 5′ to the start of transcription in a promoter that functions in eukaryotic cells, but can often be inserted upstream (5′) or downstream (3′) to the coding sequence. In some instances, these enhancer DNA elements are introns. Among the introns that are useful as enhancer DNA are the 5′ introns from the rice actin 1 gene (see U.S. Pat. No. 5,641,876), the rice actin 2 gene, the Arabidopsis histone 4 intron, the maize alcohol dehydrogenase gene, the maize heat shock protein 70 gene (see U.S. Pat. No. 5,593,874), the maize shrunken 1 gene, the light sensitive 1 gene of Solanum tuberosum, and the heat shock protein 70 gene of Petunia hybrida (see U.S. Pat. No. 5,659,122). Thus, as contemplated herein, a promoter or promoter region includes variations of promoters derived by inserting or deleting regulatory regions, subjecting the promoter to random or site-directed mutagenesis etc. The activity or strength of a promoter may be measured in terms of the amounts of RNA it produces, or the amount of protein accumulation in a cell or tissue, relative to a promoter whose transcriptional activity has been previously assessed.

The chimeric gene may also comprise a transcription termination or polyadenylation sequence, e. g. one operable in a plant cell. As a transcription termination or polyadenylation sequence, use may be made of any corresponding sequence of bacterial origin, such as for example the nos terminator of Agrobacterium tumefaciens, of viral origin, such as for example the CaMV 35S terminator, or of plant origin, such as for example a histone terminator as described in published Patent Application EP 0 633 317 A1.

Within the scope of the present disclosure, use may also be made, in combination with the promoter and the nucleic acid disclosed herein, of other regulatory sequences, which are located between said promoter and said nucleic acid. Non-limiting examples of such regulatory sequences include transcription activators (“enhancers”) or introns as described elsewhere in this application. Other suitable regulatory sequences include 5′ UTRs. As used herein, a 5′UTR, also referred to as leader sequence, is a particular region of a messenger RNA (mRNA) located between the transcription start site and the start codon of the coding region. It is involved in mRNA stability and translation efficiency. For example, the 5′ untranslated leader of a petunia chlorophyll a/b binding protein gene downstream of the 35S transcription start site can be utilized to augment steady-state levels of reporter gene expression (Harpster et al., 1988). WO95/006742 describes the use of 5′ non-translated leader sequences derived from genes coding for heat shock proteins to increase transgene expression. The translation activators of the tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) leader described in Application WO 87/07644 as well as that of the tobacco etch virus (TEV) leader described by Carrington & Freed 1990, J. Virol. 64: 1590-1597 may also be used in the present invention.

The chimeric gene may further comprise a nucleotide sequence encoding a protein targeting sequence for targeting the expressed protein to specific organelles or compartments within the host cell, or for secretion.

A protein targeting sequence is a short (3-60 amino acids long) amino acid sequence that directs the transport of a protein within or outside the cell. Protein targeting peptides may also be called signal peptides (for secretion), transit peptides (for targeting to plastids), or protein retention sequences.

A suitable signal sequence for secretion of protein expressed in yeasts such as Pichia pastoris is the signal sequence of the α factor mating protein (Cregg et al., 1993). An example for a signal peptide for secretion of fused proteins in plants is that of the PR1a protein of Nicotiana tabacum (Cornelissen et al. 1986).

Fusion of such signal sequences to the protein disclosed herein by linking DNA fragments encoding the respective protein and the signal sequence can be achieved using standard recombinant DNA techniques.

In one embodiment, the present invention relates to a vector comprising the chimeric gene described herein.

The vector can be, e. g., a plasmid, cosmid, virus, bacteriophage or another vector used conventionally e.g. in genetic engineering.

The nucleic acid molecule of the present invention may be inserted into several commercially available vectors. Non-limiting examples include prokaryotic plasmid vectors, such as the pUCseries, pBluescript (Stratagene), the pET-series of expression vectors (Novagen) or pCRTOPO (Invitrogen), lambda gt11, pJOE, the pBBR1-MCS series, pJB861, pBSMuL, pBC2, pUCPKS, pTACT1 and vectors compatible with expression in eukaryotic cells, such as yeast or mammalian cells, like pREP (Invitrogen), pCEP4 (Invitrogen), pMC1 neo (Stratagene), pXT1 (Stratagene), pSG5 (Stratagene), EBO-pSV2neo, pBPV-1, pdBPVMMTneo, pRSVgpt, pRSVneo, pSV2-dhfr, p1ZD35, Okayama-Berg cDNA expression vector pcDV1 (Pharmacia), pRc/CMV, pcDNA1, pcDNA3 (Invitrogen), pSPORT1 (GIBCO BRL), pGEMHE (Promega), pLXIN, pSIR (Clontech), plRES-EGFP (Clontech), pEAK-10 (Edge Biosystems) pTriEx-Hygro (Novagen) and pCINeo (Promega). Examples for plasmid vectors suitable for the yeast Pichia pastoris comprise e.g. the plasmids pA0815, pPICZ, pPICZα, pPIC9K and pPIC3.5K (all Invitrogen).

Suitable vectors for introduction into plants include those disclosed in Cornelissen and Vandewiele (1989), Lindbo (2007), Gritch et al (2006) or Wagner et al (2004).

Also described herein is a host cell comprising the chimeric gene or the vector described herein. Suitable prokaryotic host cells comprise e.g. bacteria of the genera Escherichia, Streptomyces, Salmonella or Bacillus. Suitable eukaryotic host cells are e.g. yeasts such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae or Pichia pastoris. Insect cells suitable for expression are e.g. Drosophila S2 or Spodoptera Sf9 cells. Plant cells suitable for the present invention include any plant cell comprising essentially the genetic information necessary to define a plant, which may, apart from the chimeric gene disclosed herein, be supplemented by one or more further transgenes. Cells may be derived from the various organs and/or tissues forming a plant, including but not limited to fruits, seeds, embryos, reproductive tissue, meristematic regions, callus tissue, leaves, roots, shoots, flowers, vascular tissue, gametophytes, sporophytes, pollen, and microspores.

In one example, the host cell of the invention further comprises at least one further chimeric gene comprising a (plant expressible) promoter, a nucleic acid sequence encoding a protein able to synthesize xyloglucan in said host cell, and a transcription termination and polyadenylation region. For example, one chimeric gene could comprise a nucleic acid sequence encoding CslC4 from Arabidopsis (Cocuron et al., 2007) in combination with another chimeric gene comprising a nucleic acid encoding an alpha-xylosyltransferase XT1 from Arabidopsis (Faik et al., 2002). As described further below, this embodiment serves for the production of cellulose covalently linked to xyloglucan (oligosaccharides) in case the host cell does not produce xyloglucan by itself.

Also disclosed herein is a plant, plant part or seed comprising the chimeric gene described herein, the vector described herein or the plant cell described herein.

The plant of the present invention can be any plant. Non-limiting examples of plants of the invention include wheat, cotton, canola and other oilseed rape, rice, corn, soy bean, sorghum, sunflower, tobacco, sugar beet, maize, barley, tomato, mango, peach, apple, pear, strawberry, banana, melon, potato, carrot, lettuce, cabbage, onion, sugar cane, pea, field beans, poplar, grape, citrus, alfalfa, rye, oats, turf and forage grasses, flax, nut producing plants and wood producing plants such as Pinus, Prunus, Pseudotsuga, Eucalyptus, Picea, Larix, Thuja, Abies, Khaya, Acer, Lophira, Fagus, Diospyros, Quercus, Tilia, Populus, Platanus, Tectona, Robinia, Ulmus and Juglans.

Plant parts include, in addition to the examples listed above for plant cells, cells, tissues or organs, seed pods, seeds, severed parts such as roots, leaves, flowers, pollen, etc. The term “plant” also includes progeny of plants which retain the distinguishing characteristics of the parents, such as seed obtained by selfing or crossing, e.g. hybrid seed, hybrid plants and plant parts derived therefrom.

Seed is formed by an embryonic plant enclosed together with stored nutrients by a seed coat. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants, to the latter of which soybean belongs, which occurs after fertilization and to a certain extent growth within the mother plant. The seed disclosed herein retains the distinguishing characteristics of the parents, such as seed obtained by selfing or crossing, e.g. hybrid seed (obtained by crossing two inbred parental lines).

The plant cell, plant part, plant or seed can be from the plants specified above as well as from genetically modified homologues of these plants.

For the case of cotton, the cotton plant cell, plant part, plant or seed can be from any existing cotton variety. For example, the cotton plant cell can be from a variety useful for growing cotton. The most commonly used cotton varieties are Gossypium barbadense, G. hirsutum, G. arboreum and G. herbaceum. Further varieties include G. africanum and G. raimondii.

Furthermore, the invention relates to progeny of the plant of the invention or the seed of the invention.

The present invention also relates to a method of producing a transgenic plant comprising (a) providing a chimeric gene described herein or the vector described herein; and (b) introducing said chimeric gene or said vector into a plant.

“Introducing” in connection with the present application relates to the placing of genetic information in a plant cell or plant by artificial means. This can be effected by any method known in the art for introducing RNA or DNA into plant cells, tissues, protoplasts or whole plants. In addition, “introducing” also comprises introgressing genes as defined further below.

A number of methods are available to transfer DNA into plant cells. Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of cotton has been described e.g. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,004,863, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,483,013 and WO2000/71733.

Plants may also be transformed by particle bombardment: Particles of gold or tungsten are coated with DNA and then shot into young plant cells or plant embryos. This method also allows transformation of plant plastids. Cotton transformation by particle bombardment is reported e.g. in WO 92/15675.

Viral transformation (transduction) may be used for transient or stable expression of a gene, depending on the nature of the virus genome. The desired genetic material is packaged into a suitable plant virus and the modified virus is allowed to infect the plant. The progeny of the infected plants is virus free and also free of the inserted gene. Suitable methods for viral transformation are described or further detailed e. g. in WO 90/12107, WO 03/052108 or WO 2005/098004.

“Introgressing” means the integration of a gene in a plant's genome by natural means, i. e. by crossing a plant comprising the chimeric gene described herein with a plant not comprising said chimeric gene. The offspring can be selected for those comprising the chimeric gene.

Further transformation and introgression protocols can also be found in U.S. Pat. No. 7,172,881.

In a further aspect, the present application discloses a method of producing a plant or of strengthening a plant or a part thereof such as a plant cell wall, comprising: introducing a chimeric gene comprising a promoter expressible in plants, the nucleic acid described herein above (i. e. that encoding a protein having cellulose:xyloglucan endotransglucosylase activity), and a transcription termination and polyadenylation region; or growing the plant described herein or growing a plant from the seed disclosed herein. The chimeric gene introduced may be the chimeric gene as described herein above including all variations related thereto.

Further disclosed herein is a method of altering at least one fiber property in a fiber-producing plant or for strengthening a plant comprising expressing the chimeric gene described herein or the vector described herein in said fiber-producing plant or plant.

In one example, the fiber property is fiber strength and/or resistance to enzymatic digestion. In one example, the fiber strength and/or resistance to enzymatic digestion is increased.

In another example, strengthening a plant includes strengthening its stem, increasing resistance to lodging (e. g. flooding, heavy rain or wild damage) and increasing resistance to infection by pathogens.

In a further example of the method of producing a plant or of strengthening a plant described above, the method further comprises growing said plant until seed is produced.

The present invention also relates to a method of producing a protein comprising culturing the host cell described herein under suitable conditions and isolating the protein produced. Said host cell expresses or over-expresses the protein of the invention having cellulose:xyloglucan endotransglucosylase activity as described above. Accordingly, said protein of the invention is produced in and isolated from the host cell. In case that the host cell produces the protein of the invention and secretes it to the surrounding media, e. g. due to a suitable signal peptide attached to the protein, isolation denotes separation of the media comprising the protein from the host cell. Said media may then be the subject of further purification steps (see below).

Suitable conditions for culturing a prokaryotic or eukaryotic host are well known to the person skilled in the art. For example, suitable conditions for culturing bacteria are growing them under aeration in Luria Bertani (LB) medium. To increase the yield and the solubility of the expression product, the medium can be buffered or supplemented with suitable additives known to enhance or facilitate both. E. coli can be cultured from 4 to about 37° C., the exact temperature or sequence of temperatures depends on the molecule to be over-expressed. In general, the skilled person is also aware that these conditions may have to be adapted to the needs of the host and the requirements of the polypeptide expressed. In case an inducible promoter controls the nucleic acid of the invention in the vector present in the host cell, expression of the polypeptide can be induced by addition of an appropriate inducing agent Suitable expression protocols and strategies are known to the skilled person.

Suitable expression protocols for eukaryotic cells are well known to the skilled person and can be retrieved e.g. from Sambrook, 2001.

Suitable media for insect cell culture are e.g. TNM+10% FCS or SF900 medium. Insect cells are usually grown at 27° C. as adhesion or suspension culture.

Methods of isolation of the polypeptide produced are well-known in the art and comprise without limitation method steps such as ammonium sulphate precipitation, ion exchange chromatography, gel filtration chromatography (size exclusion chromatography), affinity chromatography, high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC), reversed phase HPLC, disc gel electrophoresis or immunoprecipitation, see, for example, in Sambrook, 2001.

In another aspect, the present application discloses the use of the protein described herein, the isolated nucleic acid described herein, the chimeric gene described herein or the vector described herein for altering fiber properties in a fiber-producing plant or for strengthening a plant.

Also disclosed herein is a method of growing a plant comprising (a1) providing the transgenic plant described herein or produced by the method of producing a plant described herein; or (a2) introducing a chimeric gene described herein in a plant; and (b) growing the plant of (a1) or (a2); and optionally (c) harvesting harvestable parts produced by said plant.

The nucleic acid sequences and amino acid sequences according to the invention can be used to identify other proteins, such as orthologous proteins or homologous proteins, with HTG activity or, more particularly, with CXE activity. Homologous or orthologous sequences encoding HGT proteins can be identified using methods known in the art. Homologous nucleotide sequence may be identified and isolated by hybridization under stringent conditions using as probes a nucleic acid comprising the nucleotide sequence of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 5 and 7 or part thereof. Other sequences encoding HTG proteins may also be obtained by DNA amplification using oligonucleotides specific for genes encoding HTG as primers, such as but not limited to oligonucleotides comprising or consisting of about 20 to about 50 consecutive nucleotides from any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 5 and 7 or its complement. Homologous genes encoding HTG proteins can be identified in silico using Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) homology search with other nucleotide or amino acid sequences. Functionality of the identified homologous genes encoding HTG, and in particular their MXE and CXE activities can be validated using the methods described herein.

Also disclosed herein is a method of detecting the expression of a nucleic acid or protein, comprising (a) providing the plant cell or the plant disclosed herein, wherein said transgene is the nucleic acid or protein described herein (i. e. that encoding a protein having cellulose:xyloglucan endotransglucosylase activity); and (b) detecting the expression level of the nucleic acid or protein.

The term “expression of nucleic acid or protein” relates to the transcription and optionally the translation of the transcribable and translatable part of the chimeric gene disclosed herein using appropriate expression control elements that function in plant cells.

“Detecting the expression of the nucleic acid or protein” can be effected in multiple ways.

The protein has cellulose:xyloglucan endotransglucosylase activity. Accordingly, expression may be detected using a substrate which can be converted into a visually detectable product, wherein said product may be detected by the appropriate means which depend on the color of said product or of the wavelength of the light emitted by said product. Suitable detection means are disclosed in the example section. Furthermore, expression of a nucleic acid sequence can be measured by PCR methods including the one disclosed in Zanoni et al. (2009,) and in Logan, Edwards and Saunders (2009), by sequencing techniques including that disclosed in the Illumina datasheet “mRNA expression analysis” (2010) available at http://www.illumina.com/documents/products/datasheets/datasheet_mrna_expression.pdf, and by hybridization techniques well-known in the art.

Also disclosed herein is a method for producing a cellulosic material with improved properties, the method comprising contacting, e. g. in an aqueous medium, in the presence of xyloglucan or xyloglucan oligosaccharide or xyloglucan or xyloglucan oligosaccharide to which an organic or inorganic molecule is covalently attached, cellulosic material with an effective amount of the protein of the invention.

Improved properties include increased strength or reactivity or other properties such as color (e.g. permanent dyeing of clothing, outdoor timber etc.), charge (acidic or basic), unusual paper surfaces e.g. for banknotes and legal documents, medical substances e.g. antibiotics or drugs, laboratory reagents e.g. indicator papers that would not lose the indicator during prolonged exposure to water.

The protein of the invention can be used to attach cellulose or cello-oligosaccharides covalently to xyloglucan or xyloglucan oligosaccharides, wherein said xyloglucan or xyloglucan oligosaccharides have optionally attached thereto, e.g. at the reducing terminus, various organic or inorganic compounds, which would augment the value of the celluloses.

In one example, the cellulosic material is selected from or comprised in fabric (textiles such as cotton or linen), paper, cellulose derivatives such as carboxymethylcellulose or cellulose acetate, packaging such as cardboard, building material (e. g. timber and chipboard), thickening agents such as those including and derived from xanthan gum, a medical dressing such as cotton wool and gauzes, cellophane, dialysis tubing and resin for chromatography columns.

For example, for altering the color of a material, the molecule attached to xyloglucan would be a dye. Such combination could result in a permanent dyeing of e. g. clothing or outdoor timber while achieved under very mild conditions and with no polluting by-products.

Other properties which can be altered due to attachment of a molecule with respective properties to xyloglucan within the method of producing a cellulosic material with improved properties include charge (acidic or basic), unusual paper surfaces e.g. for banknotes and legal documents, medical substances e.g. antibiotics or drugs, laboratory reagents e.g. indicator papers that would not lose the indicator during prolonged exposure to water, and numerous others.

Accordingly, in one example the method for producing a cellulosic material with improved properties includes attaching a molecule having or conferring a desired property to xyloglucan or xyloglucan oligosaccharides not having such molecule attached, said attaching taking place prior to contacting said xyloglucan or xyloglucan oligosaccharides with said cellulosic material and the protein of the invention. The molecule may be organic or inorganic. Attaching organic substances to the reducing terminus of a xyloglucan oligosaccharide can be achieved by the oligosaccharidyl-1-amino-1-deoxyalditol method disclosed in WO97/011193.

Further provided is a method for producing a cellulosic material with improved properties, said method comprising providing a plant according to the invention and harvesting the cellulosic material from said plant.

Harvesting the cellulosic material can be harvesting of the plant of the invention, comprising the cellulosic material, using conventional methods. Harvesting the cellulosic material can also be harvesting parts of the plants comprising the cellulosic material of the invention using conventional methods, such as using standard machine harvesters.

The cellulosic material can further be isolated from the harvested material, or purified from the harvested material.

Also disclosed is cellulosic material produced by the method for producing a cellulosic material disclosed herein.

Also disclosed herein is cellulosic material comprising cellulosic material covalently attached to xyloglucan or xyloglucan oligosaccharides via a glycosidic bond. In particular, said cellulosic material comprises cellulose or cello-oligosaccharides linked via a beta-glucosidic bond to xyloglucan or an oligosaccharide thereof.

In one example of said cellulosic material, an organic or inorganic molecule is covalently attached to said xyloglucan or xyloglucan oligosaccharide as described above. The effect of such modification is discussed elsewhere in this application.

Also disclosed herein is a kit comprising (a) a cellulosic material not having xyloglucan or xyloglucan oligosaccharide attached thereto and (b) xyloglucan and/or xyloglucan oligosaccharide. The kit is meant to provide the components to manufacture the cellulosic material of the invention as described elsewhere. Optionally, the kit may further comprise the protein of the invention as described herein.

Further provided is an antibody directed to the protein according to the invention. An Antibody refers to intact molecules or fragments thereof which are capable of binding an epitope of the protein of the invention. Antibodies that bind the protein of the invention can be prepared using intact polypeptides or fragments containing small peptides of interest for immunization.

Also provided is a method of producing food or feed, such as oil, meal, grain, starch, flour or protein, or an industrial product such as biofuel, fiber, industrial chemicals, a pharmaceutical or a nutraceutical, said method comprising obtaining the plant or a part thereof according to the invention and preparing the food, feed or industrial product from the plant or part thereof.

“High stringency conditions” or “high stringency hybridization conditions” can be provided, for example, by hybridization at 65° C. in an aqueous solution containing 6×SSC (20×SSC contains 3.0 M NaCl, 0.3 M Na-citrate, pH 7.0), 5×Denhardt's (100×Denhardt's contains 2% Ficoll, 2% Polyvinyl pyrollidone, 2% Bovine Serum Albumin), 0.5% sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS), and 20 μg/ml denaturated carrier DNA (single-stranded fish sperm DNA, with an average length of 120-3000 nucleotides) as non-specific competitor. Following hybridization, high stringency washing may be done in several steps, with a final wash (about 30 min) at the hybridization temperature in 0.2-0.1×SSC, 0.1% SDS.

“Moderate stringency conditions” or “moderate stringency hybridization conditions” refers to conditions equivalent to hybridization in the above described solution but at about 60-62° C. Moderate stringency washing may be done at the hybridization temperature in 1× SSC, 0.1% SDS.

“Low stringency” or “low stringency hybridization conditions” refers to conditions equivalent to hybridization in the above described solution at about 50-52° C. Low stringency washing may be done at the hybridization temperature in 2×SSC, 0.1% SDS. See also Sambrook et al. (1989) and Sambrook and Russell (2001).

The transformed plant cells and plants disclosed herein or obtained by the methods described herein may contain, in addition to the chimeric gene described above, at least one other chimeric gene comprising a nucleic acid encoding an expression product of interest. Examples of such expression product include RNA molecules or proteins, such as for example an enzyme for resistance to a herbicide. Herbicide-resistant cotton plants are for example glyphosate-tolerant plants, i.e. plants made tolerant to the herbicide glyphosate or salts thereof. Plants can be made tolerant to glyphosate through different means. For example, glyphosate-tolerant plants can be obtained by transforming the plant with a gene encoding the enzyme 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS). Examples of such EPSPS genes are the AroA gene (mutant CT7) of the bacterium Salmonella typhimurium (Comai et al., 1983, Science 221, 370-371), the CP4 gene of the bacterium Agrobacterium sp. (Barry et al., 1992), the genes encoding a Petunia EPSPS (Shah et al., 1986), a Tomato EPSPS (Gasser et al., 1988), or an Eleusine EPSPS (WO 01/66704). It can also be a mutated EPSPS as described in for example EP 0837944, WO 00/66746, WO 00/66747 or WO02/26995. Glyphosate-tolerant plants can also be obtained by expressing a gene that encodes a glyphosate oxido-reductase enzyme as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,776,760 and 5,463,175. Glyphosate-tolerant plants can also be obtained by expressing a gene that encodes a glyphosate acetyl transferase enzyme as described in for example WO 02/36782, WO 03/092360, WO 05/012515 and WO 07/024782. Glyphosate-tolerant plants can also be obtained by selecting plants containing naturally-occurring mutations of the above-mentioned genes, as described in for example WO 01/024615 or WO 03/013226. Plants expressing EPSPS genes that confer glyphosate tolerance are described in e.g. U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 11/517,991, 10/739,610, 12/139,408, 12/352,532, 11/312,866, 11/315,678, 12/421,292, 11/400,598, 11/651,752, 11/681,285, 11/605,824, 12/468,205, 11/760,570, 11/762,526, 11/769,327, 11/769,255, 11/943,801 or 12/362,774. Plants comprising other genes that confer glyphosate tolerance, such as decarboxylase genes, are described in e.g. U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 11/588,811, 11/185,342, 12/364,724, 11/185,560 or 12/423,926.

Other herbicide resistant cotton plants are for example plants that are made tolerant to herbicides inhibiting the enzyme glutamine synthase, such as bialaphos, phosphinothricin or glufosinate. Such plants can be obtained by expressing an enzyme detoxifying the herbicide or a mutant glutamine synthase enzyme that is resistant to inhibition, e.g. described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/760,602. One such efficient detoxifying enzyme is an enzyme encoding a phosphinothricin acetyltransferase (such as the bar or pat protein from Streptomyces species). Plants expressing an exogenous phosphinothricin acetyltransferase are for example described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,561,236; 5,648,477; 5,646,024; 5,273,894; 5,637,489; 5,276,268; 5,739,082; 5,908,810 and 7,112,665.

Further herbicide-tolerant cotton plants are also plants that are made tolerant to the herbicides inhibiting the enzyme hydroxyphenylpyruvatedioxygenase (HPPD). HPPD is an enzyme that catalyze the reaction in which para-hydroxyphenylpyruvate (HPP) is transformed into homogentisate. Plants tolerant to HPPD-inhibitors can be transformed with a gene encoding a naturally-occurring resistant HPPD enzyme, or a gene encoding a mutated or chimeric HPPD enzyme as described in WO 96/38567, WO 99/24585, WO 99/24586, WO 2009/144079, WO 2002/046387, or U.S. Pat. No. 6,768,044. Tolerance to HPPD-inhibitors can also be obtained by transforming plants with genes encoding certain enzymes enabling the formation of homogentisate despite the inhibition of the native HPPD enzyme by the HPPD-inhibitor. Such plants and genes are described in WO 99/34008 and WO 02/36787. Tolerance of plants to HPPD inhibitors can also be improved by transforming plants with a gene encoding an enzyme having prephenate dehydrogenase (PDH) activity in addition to a gene encoding an HPPD-tolerant enzyme, as described in WO 2004/024928. Further, plants can be made more tolerant to HPPD-inhibitor herbicides by adding into their genome a gene encoding an enzyme capable of metabolizing or degrading HPPD inhibitors, such as the CYP450 enzymes shown in WO 2007/103567 and WO 2008/150473.

Still further herbicide resistant cotton plants are plants that are made tolerant to acetolactate synthase (ALS) inhibitors. Known ALS-inhibitors include, for example, sulfonylurea, imidazolinone, triazolopyrimidines, pryimidinyoxy(thio)benzoates, and/or sulfonylaminocarbonyltriazolinone herbicides. Different mutations in the ALS enzyme (also known as acetohydroxyacid synthase, AHAS) are known to confer tolerance to different herbicides and groups of herbicides, as described for example in Tranel and Wright (2002), but also, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,605,011, 5,378,824, 5,141,870, and 5,013,659. The production of sulfonylurea-tolerant plants and imidazolinone-tolerant plants is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,605,011; 5,013,659; 5,141,870; 5,767,361; 5,731,180; 5,304,732; 4,761,373; 5,331,107; 5,928,937; and 5,378,824; and international publication WO 96/33270. Other imidazolinone-tolerant plants are also described in for example WO 2004/040012, WO 2004/106529, WO 2005/020673, WO 2005/093093, WO 2006/007373, WO 2006/015376, WO 2006/024351, and WO 2006/060634. Further sulfonylurea- and imidazolinone-tolerant plants are also described in for example WO 07/024782 and U.S. Patent Application No. 61/288,958.

Other cotton plants tolerant to imidazolinone and/or sulfonylurea can be obtained by induced mutagenesis, selection in cell cultures in the presence of the herbicide or mutation breeding as described for example for soybeans in U.S. Pat. No. 5,084,082, for rice in WO 97/41218, for sugar beet in U.S. Pat. No. 5,773,702 and WO 99/057965, for lettuce in U.S. Pat. No. 5,198,599, or for sunflower in WO 01/065922.

Further expression products of interest confer insect resistance to a cotton plant, i.e. resistance to attack by certain target insects. Such plants can be obtained by genetic transformation, or by selection of plants containing a mutation imparting such insect resistance.

Insect-resistant plants include any plant containing at least one transgene comprising a coding sequence encoding:

1) an insecticidal crystal protein from Bacillus thuringiensis or an insecticidal portion thereof, such as the insecticidal crystal proteins listed by Crickmore et al. (1998), updated by Crickmore et al. (2005) at the Bacillus thuringiensis toxin nomenclature, online at: http://www.lifesci.sussex.ac.uk/Home/Neil_Crickmore/Bt/), or insecticidal portions thereof, e.g., proteins of the Cry protein classes Cry1Ab, Cry1Ac, Cry1B, Cry1C, Cry1D, Cry1F, Cry2Ab, Cry3Aa, or Cry3Bb or insecticidal portions thereof (e.g. EP 1999141 and WO 2007/107302), or such proteins encoded by synthetic genes as e.g. described in and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/249,016; or 2) a crystal protein from Bacillus thuringiensis or a portion thereof which is insecticidal in the presence of a second other crystal protein from Bacillus thuringiensis or a portion thereof, such as the binary toxin made up of the Cry34 and Cry35 crystal proteins (Moellenbeck et al. 2001; Schnepf et al. 2006) or the binary toxin made up of the Cry1A or Cry1F proteins and the Cry2Aa or Cry2Ab or Cry2Ae proteins (U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/214,022 and EP 08010791.5); or 3) a hybrid insecticidal protein comprising parts of different insecticidal crystal proteins from Bacillus thuringiensis, such as a hybrid of the proteins of 1) above or a hybrid of the proteins of 2) above, e.g., the Cry1A.105 protein produced by corn event MON89034 (WO 2007/027777); or 4) a protein of any one of 1) to 3) above wherein some, particularly 1 to 10, amino acids have been replaced by another amino acid to obtain a higher insecticidal activity to a target insect species, and/or to expand the range of target insect species affected, and/or because of changes introduced into the encoding DNA during cloning or transformation, such as the Cry3Bb1 protein in corn events MON863 or MON88017, or the Cry3A protein in corn event MIR604; or 5) an insecticidal secreted protein from Bacillus thuringiensis or Bacillus cereus, or an insecticidal portion thereof, such as the vegetative insecticidal (VIP) proteins listed at: http://www.lifesci.sussex.ac.uk/home/Neil_Crickmore/Bt/vip.html, e.g., proteins from the VIP3Aa protein class; or 6) a secreted protein from Bacillus thuringiensis or Bacillus cereus which is insecticidal in the presence of a second secreted protein from Bacillus thuringiensis or B. cereus, such as the binary toxin made up of the VIP1A and VIP2A proteins (WO 94/21795); or 7) a hybrid insecticidal protein comprising parts from different secreted proteins from Bacillus thuringiensis or Bacillus cereus, such as a hybrid of the proteins in 1) above or a hybrid of the proteins in 2) above; or 8) a protein of any one of 5) to 7) above wherein some, particularly 1 to 10, amino acids have been replaced by another amino acid to obtain a higher insecticidal activity to a target insect species, and/or to expand the range of target insect species affected, and/or because of changes introduced into the encoding DNA during cloning or transformation (while still encoding an insecticidal protein), such as the VIP3Aa protein in cotton event COT102; or 9) a secreted protein from Bacillus thuringiensis or Bacillus cereus which is insecticidal in the presence of a crystal protein from Bacillus thuringiensis, such as the binary toxin made up of VIP3 and Cry1A or Cry1F (U.S. Patent Appl. Ser. No. 61/126,083 and 61/195,019), or the binary toxin made up of the VIP3 protein and the Cry2Aa or Cry2Ab or Cry2Ae proteins (U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/214,022 and EP 08010791.5); 10) a protein of 9) above wherein some, particularly 1 to 10, amino acids have been replaced by another amino acid to obtain a higher insecticidal activity to a target insect species, and/or to expand the range of target insect species affected, and/or because of changes introduced into the encoding DNA during cloning or transformation (while still encoding an insecticidal protein).

Also included are insect-resistant transgenic plants comprising a combination of genes encoding the proteins of any one of the above classes 1 to 10. In one embodiment, an insect-resistant plant contains more than one transgene encoding a protein of any one of the above classes 1 to 10, to expand the range of target insect species affected when using different proteins directed at different target insect species, or to delay insect resistance development to the plants by using different proteins insecticidal to the same target insect species but having a different mode of action, such as binding to different receptor binding sites in the insect.

Insect-resistant plants further include plants containing at least one transgene comprising a sequence producing upon expression a double-stranded RNA which upon ingestion by a plant insect pest inhibits the growth of this insect pest, as described e.g. in WO 2007/080126, WO 2006/129204, WO 2007/074405, WO 2007/080127 and WO 2007/035650.

Further additional traits confer tolerance to abiotic stresses. Plants with such tolerance can be obtained by genetic transformation, or by selection of plants containing a mutation imparting such stress resistance. Particularly useful stress tolerance plants include:

1) plants which contain a transgene capable of reducing the expression and/or the activity of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) gene in the plant cells or plants as described in WO 00/04173, WO/2006/045633, EP 04077984.5, or EP 06009836.5. 2) plants which contain a stress tolerance enhancing transgene capable of reducing the expression and/or the activity of the PARG encoding genes of the plants or plants cells, as described e.g. in WO 2004/090140. 3) plants which contain a stress tolerance enhancing transgene coding for a plant-functional enzyme of the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide salvage synthesis pathway including nicotinamidase, nicotinate phosphoribosyltransferase, nicotinic acid mononucleotide adenyl transferase, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide synthetase or nicotine amide phosphoribosyltransferase as described e.g. in EP 04077624.7, WO 2006/133827, PCT/EP07/002433, EP 1999263, or WO 2007/107326.

Plants or plant cultivars (that can be obtained by plant biotechnology methods such as genetic engineering) which may also be treated according to the invention are plants, such as cotton plants, with altered fiber characteristics. Such plants can be obtained by genetic transformation, or by selection of plants contain a mutation imparting such altered fiber characteristics and include:

-   a) Plants, such as cotton plants, containing an altered form of     cellulose synthase genes as described in WO 98/00549 -   b) Plants, such as cotton plants, containing an altered form of rsw2     or rsw3 homologous nucleic acids as described in WO 2004/053219 -   c) Plants, such as cotton plants, with increased expression of     sucrose phosphate synthase as described in WO 01/17333 -   d) Plants, such as cotton plants, with increased expression of     sucrose synthase as described in WO 02/45485 -   e) Plants, such as cotton plants, wherein the timing of the     plasmodesmatal gating at the basis of the fiber cell is altered,     e.g. through downregulation of fiber-selective β-1,3-glucanase as     described in WO 2005/017157, or as described in EP 08075514.3 or     U.S. Patent Appl. Ser. No. 61/128,938 -   f) Plants, such as cotton plants, having fibers with altered     reactivity, e.g. through the expression of     N-acetylglucosaminetransferase gene including nodC and chitin     synthase genes as described in WO 2006/136351

The transformed plant cells and plants obtained by the methods described herein may be further used in breeding procedures well known in the art, such as crossing, selfing, and backcrossing. Breeding programs may involve crossing to generate an F1 (first filial) generation, followed by several generations of selfing (generating F2, F3, etc.). The breeding program may also involve backcrossing (BC) steps, whereby the offspring is backcrossed to one of the parental lines, termed the recurrent parent.

Accordingly, also disclosed herein is a method for producing plants comprising the chimeric gene disclosed herein comprising the step of crossing the cotton plant disclosed herein with another plant or with itself and selecting for offspring comprising said chimeric gene.

The transformed plant cells and plants obtained by the methods disclosed herein may also be further used in subsequent transformation procedures, e. g. to introduce a further chimeric gene.

The plants or seed comprising the chimeric gene disclosed herein or obtained by the methods disclosed herein may further be treated with cotton herbicides such as Diuron, Fluometuron, MSMA, Oxyfluorfen, Prometryn, Trifluralin, Carfentrazone, Clethodim, Fluazifop-butyl, Glyphosate, Norflurazon, Pendimethalin, Pyrithiobac-sodium, Trifloxysulfuron, Tepraloxydim, Glufosinate, Flumioxazin, Thidiazuron; cotton insecticides such as Acephate, Aldicarb, Chlorpyrifos, Cypermethrin, Deltamethrin, Abamectin, Acetamiprid, Emamectin Benzoate, Imidacloprid, Indoxacarb, Lambda-Cyhalothrin, Spinosad, Thiodicarb, Gamma-Cyhalothrin, Spiromesifen, Pyridalyl, Flonicamid, Flubendiamide, Triflumuron, Rynaxypyr, Beta-Cyfluthrin, Spirotetramat, Clothianidin, Thiamethoxam, Thiacloprid, Dinetofuran, Flubendiamide, Cyazypyr, Spinosad, Spinotoram, gamma Cyhalothrin, 4-[[(6-Chlorpyridin-3-yl)methyl](2,2-difluorethyl)amino]furan-2(5H)-on, Thiodicarb, Avermectin, Flonicamid, Pyridalyl, Spiromesifen, Sulfoxaflor; and cotton fungicides such as Azoxystrobin, Bixafen, Boscalid, Carbendazim, Chlorothalonil, Copper, Cyproconazole, Difenoconazole, Dimoxystrobin, Epoxiconazole, Fenamidone, Fluazinam, Fluopyram, Fluoxastrobin, Fluxapyroxad, Iprodione, Isopyrazam, Isotianil, Mancozeb, Maneb, Metominostrobin, Penthiopyrad, Picoxystrobin, Propineb, Prothioconazole, Pyraclostrobin, Quintozene, Tebuconazole, Tetraconazole, Thiophanate-methyl, Trifloxystrobin.

The sequence listing contained in the file named “BCS13-2019_ST25.txt”, which is 30 kilobytes (size as measured in Microsoft Windows®), contains 8 sequences SEQ ID NO: 1 through SEQ ID NO: 8 is filed herewith by electronic submission and is incorporated by reference herein.

The figures show:

FIG. 1: Zymogram of native PAGE of extract of MXE activity. Crude extract (A) or ammonium sulphate precipitate (ASP) (B) was run on native PAGE. One lane was stained with Coomassie Blue (CB). Three lanes of the electrophoresed gels were excised and washed twice in 0.3 M citrate buffer (pH 6.3) for 15 min. Enzyme activities were detected by overlaying the lane with paper impregnated with MLG and XXXG-SR (conjugate of sulphorhodamine and a heptasaccharide of xyloglucan (Xyl3.Glc4)) (M), XyG (xyloglucan) and XXXG-SR (X), or just XXXG-SR (C). Light bands on the dark background indicate polysaccharide-to-oligosaccharide transglucosylation; in the case of (C) the polysaccharide involved was the cellulose of the paper itself.

FIG. 2: Dot blot paper confirming CXE activity. A) Three test paper strips were loaded (3 μl each, 8 spots) with a 2-fold dilution series of ASP enzyme in citrate (0.3 M, pH 6.3). The strips were incubated in humid conditions for 1 h, then dried at room temperature. The strips were washed in ethanol/formic acid/water (EFW) and photographed. B) The strips were washed in 6 M NaOH at 37° C. overnight, rinsed in water, dried, and photographed again. The papers shrank in size during the wash. Circles show the remaining firmly bound endotransglucosylase product attributable to cellulose-to-XXXG transglycosylation. C=CX; M=MXE; X=XET.

FIG. 3: Natural cellulose as donor for HTG. Ground culture cells and mature shoots were washed in 75% EtOH until chlorophyll removed, and dried. A portion of the AIR (alcohol-insoluble residue) was incubated in 6 M NaOH at 37° C. overnight, then washed in water to remove the alkali, lyophilized, and stored. Each substrate (10 mg) was rehydrated overnight, and excess liquid was removed prior to assay. The solid substrate was mixed with [³H]XXXGol (reduced XXXG (i.e., Xyl3.Glc3.glucitol) (2 kBq), ASP, and citrate buffer (0.3 M, pH 6.3, 97 μl). After 2 h, the reaction was stopped with formic acid (FA) (30 μl), and the solids were washed in water until void of remaining free [³H]XXXGOL. The solids (in 1 ml water) were transferred to scintillation vials and incubated with scintillant overnight before ³H testing. Each sample tested in triplicate, ±SD shown. *n=1.

FIG. 4: Potential of activities to covalently link cellulose microfibrils.

FIG. 5: Corrected radioactivity (cpm for MXE and XET, cpm/6 for CXE) of fractions 1-20 containing three endotransglucosylase activities (XET (diagonally striped bars), MXE (black bars), CXE (white bars)) after isoelectric focusing of ammonium-sulphate-precipitated Equisetum proteins.

FIG. 6: Timescale of XET, MXE and CXE activity of the HTG protein expressed in Pichia. XET activity is indicated with diamonds, MXE activity is indicated with squares, and CXE activity is indicated with triangles. X-axis: Time (min); Y-axis: radioactivity incorporated (cpm).

FIG. 7: Acceptor substrate-specificity of recombinant HTG in an assay in which barley mixed-linkage glucan was used as donor. Percentage incorporation is shown for the potential acceptor substrates (all ³H-labeled) (1→4)-β-mannohexaitol (1), cellohexaitol (2), (1→4)-β-galactohexaitol (3), (1→4)-α-galacturonohexaitol (4), XXLGol (5), GGXXXGol (6), XXXGol (7), GXXGol (8), maltohexaitol (9), cellulase-generated heptasaccharides and octasaccharides of MLG (10), (1→4)-β-xylohexaitol (11), lichenase-generated hepta- to decasaccharides of MLG (12), lichenase-generated octasaccharide of MLG (13), lichenase-generated heptasaccharide of MLG (14), and laminaritetraitol (15). The abbreviated nomenclature of the xyloglucan oligosaccharides (XXLGol, GGXXXGol, XXXGol, GXXGol) is as explained by Fry et al. (1993).

FIG. 8: Alignment of nucleotide (A) and amino acid (B) sequences of the sequences of SEQ ID NOs 1, 5 and 7, and SEQ ID NOs 2, 6 and 8, respectively.

FIG. 9: Timescale of XET, MXE and CXE activity of the HTG protein expressed in Pichia in presence and absence of BSA. XET activity with BSA: white squares; XET activity without BSA: black squares; MXE activity with BSA: white triangles; MXE activity without BSA: black triangles; CXE activity with BSA: white circles; CXE activity without BSA: black circles. X-axis: Incubation time (h); Y-axis: ³H radioactivity incorporated (cpm/kBq of substrate supplied).

FIG. 10: HTG-catalysed transglycosylations with [³H]XXXGol as acceptor-substrate and various donor-substrates, including: mixed-linkage glucan (MLG) (crosses); xyloglucan (triangles) water-soluble cellulose acetate (WSCA) (diamonds); plain paper (PP) (black squares); alkali-pretreated paper (AP) (black circles); alkali-pretreated paper+bovine serum albumin (AP+BSA) (white circles), plain paper+bovine serum albumin (PP+BSA) (white squares). X-axis: Incubation time (h); Y-axis: ³H radioactivity incorporated (Bq/kBq supplied).

FIG. 11: Transglycosylation with [³H]XXXGol (black symbols) or [³H]cellotetraitol (GGGGol) (white symbols) as acceptors, and with various donor substrates, including alkali-pretreated paper+BSA (AP+BSA) (diamonds; black diamonds with XXXGol, white diamonds with GGGGol), mixed-linkage glucan (MLG) (triangles; black triangles with XXXGol, white triangles with GGGGol) and xyloglucan (circles; black circles with XXXGol, white circles with GGGGol). X-axis: Incubation time (h); Y-axis: ³H radioactivity incorporated (Bq/kBq supplied).

FIG. 12: HTG-catalysed transglycosylation rates with MLG (gray bars) or xyloglucan (black bars) as donor-substrate and various ³H-oligosaccharides as potential acceptors. The reaction rate with XXXGol is set at 100%. A, B, and C represent three independent experiments. Experiments B and C utilised affinity-column-purified HTG. In Experiment C, only MLG was used as donor. 1: XXXGol, 2: GXXGol; 3: GGXXXGol; 4: XXLGol; 5: XLLGol; 6: Cell4-ol; 7: Man6-ol; 8: Xyl6-ol; 9: MLGO-ol A; 10: MLGO-ol B; 11: MLGO-ol C; 12: Cell6-ol; 13: MLGO-ol D; 14: MLGO-ol E; 15: MLGO-ol F; 16: Lam4-ol; 17: Gal6-ol; 18: GalA6-ol; 19: Malt6-ol. MLGO-ols A-F were not individually identified, but are hepta- to decasaccharides from barley-MLG digested with lichenase (A-C) or cellulose (D-F).

Throughout the present application, reference is made to the following sequences:

-   SEQ ID NO: 1: nucleotide sequence of Equisetum fluviatile HTG -   SEQ ID NO: 2: amino acid sequence of protein encoded by SEQ ID NO: 1 -   SEQ ID NO: 3: nucleotide sequence of HTG fusion protein used for     expression in Pichia pastoris -   SEQ ID NO: 4: amino acid sequence of protein encoded by SEQ ID NO: 3 -   SEQ ID NO: 5: nucleotide sequence of Equisetum hyemale HTG -   SEQ ID NO: 6: amino acid sequence of protein encoded by SEQ ID NO: 5 -   SEQ ID NO: 7: nucleotide sequence of Equisetum diffusum HTG -   SEQ ID NO: 8: amino acid sequence of protein encoded by SEQ ID NO: 7

The examples illustrate the invention

EXAMPLE 1: MATERIALS AND METHODS 1.1 General

Unless stated otherwise, the cloning steps carried out, such as, for example, restriction cleavages, agarose gel electrophoresis, purification of DNA fragments, linking DNA fragments, transformation of bacterial or yeast cells, growing bacteria or yeast and sequence analysis of recombinant DNA, are carried out as described by Sambrook (2000). The sequencing of recombinant DNA molecules is carried out using ABI laser fluorescence DNA sequencer following the method of Sanger.

1.2 Extraction of Enzymes from Plant Material

Crude enzyme mixtures were extracted from fresh plant tissue in CaCl₂ (10 mM), succinic acid (0.3 M) and ascorbic acid (20 mM), made fresh to pH 5.5. Polyclar AT (3% w/v) was added to complex with phenolics. Fresh tissue was homogenized in a food blender with 5 ml of the extractant above per gram of fresh weight tissue. The tissue and extractant were stirred on ice for 2.5 h. The extract was filtered through two layers of Miracloth and centrifuged in a Sorvall Evolution RC Centrifuge (10 min, 10,000 rpm, 4° C.). The supernatant was collected and aliquotted, then frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored at −80° C.

1.3 Rotofor Isoelectric Focusing (IEF)

A Bio-Rad Rotofor Cell was assembled and prepared according to the manufacturer's manual. The Rotofor was powered by a BioRad PowerPac HV. Ampholytes were mixed with water and either a marker mixture containing phycocyanin, hemoglobins A and C, and cytochrome c, or a dialysed protein sample. The separation was conducted at 10 W constant power until the voltage stabilized, and fractions were collected according to the manufacturer's methods. A Sartorius PB-11 pH meter was used to measure the pH of the fractions.

Transglucosylase activity was also assayed.

1.4 Fluorescent Transglucosylation Assay Preparation of the Assay Papers

Dot-blot, or test, papers were made following Fry 1997. Test papers were made with Whatman 1CHR chromatography paper. XET-test paper was made by dipping through 1.0% XyG, drying, then dipping through 5 μM XXXG-SR (a conjugate of XXXG and sulphorhodamine (SR)) in 75% acetone or 75% ethanol. Another paper was dipped through 1.0% MLG, dried, then XXXG-SR to make MXE-test paper. Control paper was made, containing no polysaccharide donor substrate other than the paper itself, including the acceptor substrate. The final acceptor substrate concentration for all test papers was ˜125 pmol/cm².

Test Paper Assay

Test papers, cut to size, were used in two ways: either enzyme solutions were applied to the papers as small dots (dot blot assay), or the papers were applied in close contact with native PAGE-gels (zymogram assay). The assay was incubated in a humid environment between two sealed glass plates. The papers were then dried at room temperature and washed in ethanol:FA:water (EFW) 1:1:1 for one hour. The strips were dried, pressed under weight overnight, and photographed using a UVP Multi Doc-It Digital Imaging System. Positive transglucosylation was evident as fluorescence when excited under ultraviolet light at 254 nm.

Fluorescent Dot-Blot Assay

Apply 3-μl aliquots of active enzyme solution [typically in succinate buffer, pH 5.5, containing 10 mM CaCl₂] as spots (9 mm centre-to-centre spacing, i.e., in 96-well plate format) to the dry test-paper.

Quickly sandwich the paper between 2 sheets of polythene or glass, press flat with a weight (telephone directory) and incubate at room temperature for 1-24 h. The spots of enzyme should remain moist. To achieve this it is helpful to place spots of enzyme solution (or buffer blanks) over the whole area of the paper, without leaving margins. Allow to dry in open air, then wash in a polythene sandwich box containing

-   -   either ethanol: 90% formic acid:water (EFW) 1:1:1     -   or 10% aq formic acid water         with gentle rocking for one hour.

If there is any question that XET or MXE products may also have been formed (though no appropriate donor substrates for these activities had been deliberately added), it might be helpful to wash the paper in 6 M NaOH (with very gentle rocking, as the paper than becomes fragile)

Thoroughly rinse in tap-water.

Dry.

View under UV light (254 nm or 310 nm) or green laser light, and record orange fluorescent spots of CXE reaction product.

1.5 Cellulose: Xyloglucan Endotransglucosylase (CXE) Assays

Whatman 1CHR chromatography paper (10-35 mg; pre-treated*) was incubated with an enzyme extract or fraction, [³H]XXXGol (2 kBq), and citrate buffer (pH 6.3, final volume 100 μl) for a designated time, typically 0-24 hours. The reaction was stopped by the addition of 90% formic acid (30 μl), then the paper was washed by repeated additions of water, centrifugation, and removal of the supernatant, until the supernatant no longer contained radioactivity. The cellulose usually required about six washes to become free of soluble radioactivity. The remaining cellulose was suspended in 0.5 ml of water, transferred to a scintillation vial with 5 ml of water-miscible scintillant, and assayed for radioactivity by scintillation counting.

*Pre-treatment of paper:

Add 3 g paper to 45 ml 6M NaOH, incubate at 37° C. overnight with gentle agitation, wash in water until almost neutral, then with succinate buffer (pH 5.5), then with more water; finally, dry the paper.

1.6 Native PAGE

Native polyacrylamide gels were made similar to SDS PAGE, but with a few differences.

The stacking gel was made to 4.3% acrylamide with tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane (Tris) (67 mM, pH 6.7 with H₃PO₄). The resolving gel concentration was 7.5% acrylamide with Tris (376 mM, pH 8.9). Running buffer contained Tris (5 mM) and glycine (38 mM). Gels were electrophoresed at 6° C. for 25 min at 20 mA, then 3 h at 40 mA.

1.7 Dissolution of Cellulose in DMA/LiCl

This procedure was modified from Gurjanov et al. (2008). Molecular sieve (4 Å) was activated (100° C., 3 h). Dimethylacetamide (DMA) was dried over the sieve for at least 5 d. LiCl (8 g) was dried (180° C., 4 h), and dissolved in dry DMA (100 ml). Pieces of Whatman 1CHR were hydrated in water for 1 h, then filtered on nylon mesh. The paper pieces were washed in acetone, then incubated in acetone for 1 h. The pieces were again filtered out using nylon mesh, and washed in DMA, and incubated overnight in dry DMA. The DMA was removed and replaced with 8% LiCl in DMA, so that the paper was 1% (w/v). The paper was dissolved by stirring at room temperature. An equal volume of dry DMA was added to reduce the viscosity of the cellulose solution. The solution was slowly added by a peristaltic pump to rapidly stirring 6 M NaOH, where the cellulose precipitated, but hemicelluloses from the paper were expected to remain in solution.

EXAMPLE 2: CELLULOSE AS A DONOR SUBSTRATE FOR MXE

During a search for enzymes with transglucosylase, in particular MXE (MLG: xyloglucan endotransglucosylase) and XET (xyloglucan endotransglucosylase) activity, enzymes from Equisetum fluviatile which were partially purified using ammonium sulphate precipitation and isoelectric focusing (Rotofor) were shown to exert MXE activity and/or XET activity. In a negative control on a paper strip treated with XXXG-SR (a sulphorhodamine conjugate of XXXG (heptasaccharide of xyloglucan)) but with no added polysaccharide donor substrate no residual fluorescence indicating enzymatic activity was expected (FIG. 1). However, a band of apparent transglucosylase activity was mirrored on all three XET (xyloglucan endotransglucosylase), MXE, and control test papers. As cellulose was the only known polysaccharide present in the controls, the possibility of β-(1→4)-glucan to act as a donor substrate in a transglucosylation reaction was investigated.

Test Papers Impregnated with XXXG-SR

First, the apparent transglucosylation product formation with no (other than paper) donor substrate observation was repeated in a slightly different experiment. Partially purified enzyme, rich in MXE and XET activity, was applied as a dilution series to three test papers, impregnated with MLG (mixed-linkage 1,3;1,4-(β-D-glucan), XyG (xyloglucan), or no added polysaccharide and XXXG-SR. The papers were maintained in a humid environment for 1 h, then washed free of XXXG-SR, and photographed under UV light to show fluorescent transglucosylation product (FIG. 2a ). The three papers were then incubated in 6 M NaOH to remove hemicelluloses from the paper and photographed again (FIG. 2b ).

The initial observation that paper alone, with no added donor substrate, can be a substrate for a transglucosylation was indeed replicated here. The three test papers all show transglucosylation product, as seen by the fluorescent spots, even when the enzyme is diluted 16-fold in buffer. Hemicelluloses, including MXE and XET products, would have been washed out in 6 M NaOH. As expected, the MXE and XET test strips have significantly less product, possibly none, remaining on the paper. The control paper retains product after the NaOH wash, although less remains. Cellulose and some mannans do not dissolve in aqueous NaOH (Moreira and Filho, 2008), and were likely candidates for the donor substrate.

Whatman 1CHR chromatography paper was used. It is made from cotton, but no information about the treatment of the material in the process of making the paper could be obtained. The most abundant polysaccharide present which could donate the energy required for a transglycosylation reaction was undoubtedly cellulose. Other polysaccharides as donor substrates were excluded after analysis by TFA and Driselase® (a fungal enzyme preparation containing polysaccharide exo- and endo-hydrolases, including cellulase, pectinase, beta-xylanase and beta-mannanase) hydrolysis.

Overall, both TFA and Driselase hydrolysis showed that Whatman 1CHR is composed mostly of glucose, most likely from cellulose. TFA (trifluoroacetic acid) hydrolysis also showed traces of xylose. Similarly, Driselase® digestion produced xylose as the most abundant sugar after glucose and cellobiose. Also, the digestion did not show traces of isoprimeverose, indicating an absence of XyG. Some of the glycoproteins comprising the Driselase® mix autolyse during the incubation, producing traces of glucose and mannose.

Cellulose: Xyloglucan Endotransglucosylase Radioactive Assays

To assay the new transglucosylase activity with cellulose as the donor substrate, tentatively termed ‘CXE’, the radioactive acceptor [³H]XXXGol (reduced XXXG, Xyl3.Glc3.glucitol) was used.

Natural Cellulose as Donor

To determine whether this activity was relevant to the growth of Equisetum plants, plant material was used as a potential donor substrate. First, alcohol-insoluble residue (AIR) of callus culture cells and mature plant stems was prepared. The residue was incubated in 6 M NaOH to remove hemicelluloses, some of which would also be donor substrates. AIR and NaOH-washed residue were tested as potential donor substrates (FIG. 3).

As was shown previously, Whatman paper was able to be a donor substrate for a transglucosylation reaction. Culture cells are rich in XyG but lack MLG (FIG. 1), and were expected to supply the donor substrate for XET. Mature shoots, rich in both MLG and XyG, contained the substrates for MXE, XET, and CXE. Interestingly, though, all samples washed in NaOH incorporated more acceptor substrate than unwashed paper or AIR. If 6 M NaOH removes all hemicelluloses covering the cellulose microfibrils, and if it can reduce the crystallinity of the microfibrils, it is possible that cellulose was a better substrate for the dominant transglucosylase than any other substrate.

Cellulose and CXE Product Solubilization and Reconstitution

It has been proposed that hemicelluloses may be trapped within amorphous regions of cellulose microfibrils (Rose and Bennet 1999). Such ‘trapped’ hemicelluloses may be more tightly connected to cellulose, remaining bound to microfibrils in warm alkali. One could argue that these hypothetical hemicelluloses were the true donor substrate for the observed transglycosylation with paper.

Another method of confirming that [³H]XXXGol was covalently linked to cellulose was to dissolve the cellulosic product. If cellulose microfibrils were reconstituted in alkali, hemicelluloses would no longer be trapped within a microfibril and would remain soluble.

Cellulose was solubilized using lithium chloride (LiCl) in dimethylacetamide (DMA). A solution of 8% LiCl in DMA dissolved CXE product. The viscous solution was slowly transferred to a large volume of 6 M NaOH, where the cellulose re-precipitated.

The solid cellulose was separated from the supernatant, and the radioactive product was monitored in each fraction (Table 1).

TABLE 1 Reconstitution of CXE product Soluble in 6M NaOH Precipitated cellulose 6500 cpm 14000 cpm CXE product (40 mg, produced using gel-permeation chromatography) was soaked in water for 1 h, followed by solvent exchange to acetone. The paper was soaked in acetone for 1 h, then exchanged for DMA freed of H₂O (over Sigma molecular sieve 4 Å for 5 d), and rotated for 16 h. The DMA was removed, and the CXE product was incubated in dry DMA (4 ml) with 8% (w/v) LiCl for 16 h. An additional 4 ml of DMA was then added to reduce viscosity. The solution of cellulose was slowly added to stirring 6 M NaOH (80 ml) through a peristaltic pump at the rate of 3.2 ml/h. The resultant mixture was stirred for 48 h. A portion of the mixture was removed and centrifuged. The supernatant was separated from the precipitants; both were neutralized with HOAc and scintillation counted. The cpm of the total supernatant and the total precipitates is reported.

Because much of the ³H product precipitated, cellulose might have indeed been the true substrate for the transglucosylation reaction with paper. The majority of ³H followed the expected pattern of cellulose precipitation in 6 M NaOH after dissolution in LiCl and DMA. While the measured ratio of tritium in the precipitate to tritium in the supernatant was 2.2:1, this ratio might have been higher still on a Bq basis since solid particles are counted with a lower efficiency than a solution.

The radioactivity that remained in solution might have been breakdown products of XXXGol, or could have been short pieces of β-(1→4)-glucan attached to XXXGol with increased solubility because of the XGO.

In summary, CXE product dissolved by LiCl in DMA precipitated upon reconstitution of the cellulose in 6 M NaOH, indicating that the transglucosylation product was not a hemicellulose.

CXE is an Activity of Partially Purified HTG

It was shown that multiple proteins in ammonium sulphate precipitate fractions of Equisetum were capable of transglucosylation, some of them displaying XET activity, and at least one other enzyme, MXE, capable of using either MLG or XyG as a donor substrate. Partially purified fractions of Equisetum extract obtained using isoelectric focusing (Rotofor) and containing the two enzyme activities MXE and XET were tested for their ability to use cellulose as a donor substrate (Table 2).

TABLE 2 CXE activity from partially purified HTG Enzyme Product formed (cpm) pp MXE 1825 pp XET 18 ASP 1217 buffer only 13 Partially purified (pp) MXE, pp XET, ASP, or buffer only (0.3 M citrate, pH 6.3) was incubated with [³H]XXXGol (2 kBq), citrate buffer (up to 100 μl), and 10 mg of Whatman 1CHR paper (untreated) for 3.3 h. The reaction was stopped with FA (30 μl), and unused reactant was washed out with water. The paper (in 5 ml water) was incubated in scintillant and assayed for ³H.

The partially purified HTG fraction contained high levels of CXE activity, but the fraction with XET activity only did not use cellulose as a donor substrate. While the MXE fraction was not one pure protein, it contained only a few and was highly enriched in one protein. In another experiment, a series of Rotofor-purified fractions containing MXE activity were tested for CXE activity, and patterns of high CXE activity directly correlated with patterns of high MXE and XET activity (FIG. 5). This enzyme may be a relatively indiscriminate transglucosylase, able to use β-(1→4)-glucans irrespective of side-chains or other backbone linkages.

Summary of MXE Activity Using Various Donor and Acceptor Substrates

The partially purified MXE fraction was able to use cellulose, MLG, or XyG as donor substrates with many acceptor substrates (Table 3). While MLG was a better donor substrate than XyG, direct comparison of activity rates with cellulose as a donor substrate was difficult. The concentration of a polysaccharide in solution, such as MLG or XyG, cannot be compared with a similar concentration of a solid in water. In addition, tritium embedded in or on a solid substrate such as cellulose was counted with lower efficiency than tritium in solution, reducing the ability to detect CXE product. Therefore, MXE and XET activity can be directly compared, but only roughly compared with CXE activity.

TABLE 3 Summary of MXE activity using various donor and acceptor substrates Relative reaction rate with the acceptor of: Donor XXXGol MLGOs Cello₆ol XXLGol XLLGol XXFG XyG +++ ± ± + + MLG ++++ + + ++ + + Cellulose ++ Lichenan ± Laminarin − Mannan − GM ± (abbreviations: GM = glucomannan, XyG = xyloglucan, MLGO = mixed-linkage glucan oligosaccharide, Cello6ol = cellohexaitol, XXFG = nonasaccharide of xyloglucan having composition Gucose4.Xylose3.Galactose1.Fucose1)

CXE Activity

A multitude of observations lead to the confirmation of cellulose:xyloglucan endotransglucosylase activity.

If the same xyloglucan molecule can be attached to two neighbouring cellulose microfibrils, the microfibrils themselves could become covalently attached through the XyG intermediate (FIG. 4). A covalently linked cellulose network could be stronger than a hydrogen bonded network.

EXAMPLE 3: TRACKING AND SEQUENCING OF GENES ENCODING HTG PROTEINS WITH CXE Activity

RNA was prepared from a mature shoot of an E. fluviatile individual using Trizol reagent (Invitrogen). cDNA was prepared with an Evrogen Mint-Universal cDNA synthesis kit, normalized with an Evrogen Trimmer kit and sequenced using 454 sequencing technology. Raw data were assembled into contigs and isotigs using Roche proprietary Newbler assembler version 2.5.

In order to identify the protein(s) having CXE activity in Equisetum, the following approach was followed:

HTG was purified from a crude E. fluviatile extract by four sequential techniques: differential ammonium sulphate precipitation, gel-permeation chromatography, lectin affinity-chromatography and isoelectric focusing. The resultant sample was separated by SDS PAGE from which a single predominant ˜30 kDa band was cut. The sample was digested with trypsin and analysed by MALDI-ToF and LC-MS.

To identify target genes, the Equisetum transcriptome was translated and the inferred proteins were subjected to in silico trypsin digestion. From the ˜30 kDa fraction prepared from the partially purified IEF fraction, two isotigs which had the highest scoring were partial gene sequences of XTH homologous proteins. The full length sequence of the two candidate genes was identified by the use of 5′ and 3′ RACE results showed that these were two parts of the same full-length gene. The protein had a predicted pl of 4.66 and a predicted mass of 29.5 kDa. The coding sequence is shown in SEQ ID NO: 1, and the sequence of the encoded protein in SEQ ID NO: 2. It is predicted that amino acids 1-21 of SEQ ID NO: 2 correspond to the signal peptide, and that amino acids 22-280 correspond to the mature protein, and thus that nts 1-63 of SEQ ID NO: 1 encode the signal peptide, and that nts 64-840 encode the mature protein.

The sequences of SEQ ID NOs 1 and 2 were used to blast a publically available sequence database. Two homologous genes were found, one from Equisetum hyemale (SEQ ID NO: 5 for the coding sequence, having 83% sequence identity to the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1, and SEQ ID NO: 6 for the encoded protein having 75% sequence identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2), and one from Equisetum diffusum (SEQ ID NO: 7 for the coding sequence, having 94% sequence identity to the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1, and SEQ ID NO: 8 for the encoded protein having 91% sequence identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2). An alignment of the nucleotide sequences and of the amino acid sequences of the Equisteum HTG proteins is shown in FIG. 8. It is predicted that amino acids 1 to 25 of SEQ ID NO: 6 correspond to the signal peptide, and amino acids 26 to 283 to the mature protein, and that amino acids 1 to 28 of SEQ ID NO: 8 correspond to the signal peptide, and amino acids 29 to 287 to the mature protein. Thus, nt 1-75 of SEQ ID NO: 5 encode the signal peptide, and nt 76-849 of SEQ ID NO: 5 encode the mature protein, and nt 1-84 of SEQ ID NO: 7 encode the signal peptide and nt 85-861 of SEQ ID NO: 7 encode the mature protein. The predicted mature protein, i.e. amino acids 26 to 283, of SEQ ID NO: 6 have 79% sequence identity to the predicted mature protein, i.e. amino acids 22-280, of SEQ ID NO: 2, whereas the predicted mature protein, i.e. amino acids 29 to 287, of SEQ ID NO: 8 have 94% sequence identity to the mature protein, i.e. amino acids 22-280, of SEQ ID NO: 2.

EXAMPLE 4: MXE, XET AND CXE ACTIVITY OF RECOMBINANT HTG EXPRESSED IN PICHIA

The mature HTG protein of Equisetum fluviatile (amino acids 22 to 280 of SEQ ID NO: 2) was expressed from the pPICZαA vector following insertion, by transformation into Pichia pastoris (SMD1168H) as fusion protein with an α-factor signal sequence at the N-terminus and a c-myc epitope and polyhistidine tag at the C-terminus. The coding sequence of the expressed fusion protein is shown in SEQ ID NO: 3, and the encoded protein in SEQ ID NO: 4. Of SEQ ID NO: 4, amino acids 1-89 correspond to the α-factor signal sequence, amino acids 92-350 correspond to the mature HTG protein, amino acids 353-362 to the c-myc epitope, and amino acids 368-373 to the polyhistidine tag.

Transformed Pichia cells expressing the HTG fusion protein were grown in liquid growth medium (90% (v/v) low salt LB, 1% (w/v) glycerol, 0.00004% (w/v) biotin, 100 μg ml⁻¹ zeocin). Expression was stimulated by centrifugation and resuspension of the culture in expression medium (identical to growth medium but with glycerol replaced with 10% (v/v) methanol). After 24 h the culture medium was harvested and assayed for endotransglucosylase activities.

XET and MXE Assay

XET activity was assayed using a reaction mixture consisting 10 μl Pichia-secreted enzyme extract, 1 kBq [3H]XXXGol (dried to give zero volume) and 10 μl 1% donor xyloglucan (XyG) polysaccharide. Donor, enzyme and acceptor components were in 50 mM MES buffer, pH 6.0. The reaction mixture was incubated for 16 hour at room temperature. The reaction was stopped by addition of 50 μl of 50% (w/v) formic acid. Each sample was loaded onto Whatman 3MM filter paper, dried and then washed thoroughly with free-flowing water to remove unreacted [3H]XXXGol. Time taken for removal of excess [3H]XXXGol was determined by assaying a blank square of paper, washed in the same conditions as those containing the acceptor oligosaccharide, producing levels of radioactivity equivalent to background.

Each paper square was air-dried, incubated with scintillant (2 ml) and assayed for radioactivity twice for 5 minutes. Enzyme controls involved the addition of formic acid prior to the addition of enzyme to produce an environment in which it is unable to function.

The MXE activity assay differs from the XET assay by the use of 1% MLG as the donor polysaccharide instead of XyG.

CXE Assay

To 1 kBq dried [3H]XXXGol, 33 μl enzyme extract (in 50 mM MES; pH 6.0) was mixed thoroughly and added to 10 mg of pre-treated dry Whatman 1CHR paper and incubated at room temperature for up to 24 hours. The reaction was stopped by the addition of 300 μl 10% (w/v) formic acid before repeated washing for 8-16 hours to remove unreacted [3H]XXXGol. Following the final washing and removal of excess water, cellulose was collected in 400 μl water+4 ml water-miscible scintillant and transferred to a scintillation vial prior to assaying for radioactivity.

Results

XET, MXE and CXE activities of 10 μl of the recombinantly-expressed protein solution after incubation of 1 hour and 3 hours are shown in Table 4.

TABLE 4 XET (Tamarind xyloglucan (Tx) used as donor), MXE (MLG used as donor) and CXE (cellulose used as donor) activity of recombinantly expressed HTG protein Activity Inc time Acceptor Enzyme Donor cpm (i) cpm (ii) cpm (av) Control 1 h Blank Blank Blank 12.60 11.00 11.80 XET 1 h [³H]XXXGol HTG Pichia Tx 1592.00 1594.60 1593.30 MXE 1 h [³H]XXXGol HTG Pichia MLG 2143.01 2097.21 2120.11 Control 1 h [³H]XXXGol HTG Pichia Control 20.40 25.60 23.00 Control 3 h Blank Blank Blank 12.60 11.00 11.80 XET 3 h [³H]XXXGol HTG Pichia Tx 2267.63 2256.43 2262.03 MXE 3 h [³H]XXXGol HTG Pichia MLG 3141.65 3100.45 3121.05 Control 3 h [³H]XXXGol HTG Pichia Control 14.00 14.00 14.00 Control 1 h Blank Blank Blank 3.51 2.91 3.21 CXE 1 h [³H]XXXGol HTG Pichia Cellulose 226.85 233.70 230.27 Control 3 h Blank Blank Blank 3.51 2.91 3.21 CXE 3 h [³H]XXXGol HTG Pichia Cellulose 549.28 559.70 554.49

To determine the initial rates of MXE, XET and CXE activity of the HTG protein expressed in Pichia, MXE, XET and CXE assays were performed during 16 hours and activity was measured at several time points.

The results of the timescale in shown in FIG. 6. Initial rates were determined from the timescale and are shown in Table 5.

TABLE 5 Initial rates of the XET, MXE and CXE activities of the HTG protein expressed in Pichia XET 43 cpm/min MXE 112 cpm/min CXE 11.7 cpm/min

Tables 4 and 5, and FIG. 6 show that the recombinantly expressed Equisetum HTG protein has MXE and XET activity, as well as a significant CXE activity.

The CXE, MXE and XET activities of the HTG protein expressed in Pichia were also tested in the presence of BSA in the reaction mixture.

Briefly, Whatman No. 1 paper pieces (each 2.0×1.15 cm), were pre-treated with 6 M NaOH (containing 1% w/v NaBH₄) at room temp overnight, then washed in running tap-water, followed by 1% acetic acid and de-ionised water, and finally dried.

Substrate mixture comprised (final concentrations):

-   -   [3H]XXXGol 50 kBq/ml (specific activity 900 MBq/μmol)     -   23 mM citrate (Na⁺), pH 6.3     -   32.4% (v/v) spent medium from HTG-expressing Pichia line.     -   0 or 0.11% w/v BSA     -   and a donor substrate polysaccharide as detailed below.

For the CXE assay, 20 μl (=1.00 kBq) of the mixture (with no added polysaccharide) was applied to a dried paper (mean dry weight of paper=18.6 mg), the vial was capped tightly, and incubation was conducted at 20° C. At desired time-points, the reaction was stopped by addition of formic acid to 20% v/v. The paper pieces were then washed in running tap-water, dried, and assayed for incorporated radioactivity by scintillation counting.

For the MXE or XET assays, 20 μl (=1.00 kBq) of the reaction mixture, supplemented with 0.5% (w/v; final concentration) barley mixed-linkage β-glucan or tamarind xyloglucan respectively, was incubated as free solution at 20° C. At intervals the reaction was stopped by addition of NaOH to 0.1 M. The mixtures were later slightly acidified with acetic acid, and dried onto Whatman No. 3 filter paper; the paper was then washed overnight in running tap-water, dried, and assayed for radioactivity by scintillation counting.

Time-course graphs are shown in FIG. 9, and reaction rates are shown in Table 6 (calculated as cpm ³H incorporated into polysaccharide, per kBq of acceptor substrate supplied, per hour of incubation).

BSA strongly promoted the CXE reaction, probably by preventing the HTG protein binding irreversibly to the paper surface; BSA had relatively little effect on the MXE and XET rates.

According to the +BSA data, the rates are in the ratio MXE:CXE:XET=100:38.4:38.2.

According to the −BSA data, the rates are in the ratio MXE:CXE:XET=100:2.3:39.1.

Thus, the HTG is a highly CXE-active enzyme.

TABLE 6 Mean reaction rates for the three enzyme activities of Pichia-expressed HTG under conditions made as directly comparable as feasible CXE − CXE + MXE − MXE + XET − XET + parameter BSA BSA BSA BSA BSA BSA mean rate 0.88 17.20  38.65  44.85 15.11 17.14 (cpm/kBq/h) rate relative (%) 1.96 38.36  86.17 100.00 33.69 38.21 to MXE + BSA rate relative (%) 2.27 44.51 100.00 116.05 39.10 44.35 to MXE − BSA

Acceptor Substrate Specificity of the Recombinant HTG

Acceptor substrate specificity of the recombinant HTG was tested in assays (in absence of BSA) using barley mixed-linkage glucan (BMLG) as donor. The enzyme used was recombinant HTG enzyme which was affinity-purified using the his-tag. All data points are the corrected means of three independent reactions.

For acceptor substrates showing relatively low affinity for paper, the conventional paper washing method was employed (running tap-water, overnight). For those acceptors exhibiting high affinity for paper (namely cellohexaitol, mannohexaitol, xylohexaitol, and the MLG oligosaccharides), a glass fibre method was employed in which the reaction products were dried onto pre-baked Whatman GF/A glass fibre paper and then washed in 75% ethanol.

The results are shown in FIG. 7. The only acceptor substrates that recombinant HTG was able to incorporate to any significant degree were xyloglucan oligosaccharides. In a further experiment, acceptor substrate specificity was determined for mixed-linkage glucan and xyloglucan as donor. The results are shown in FIG. 12. It was observed that non-galactosylated XGOs were preferred. The fact that the HTG protein used GXXGol equally well or better than XXXGol distinguishes it from conventional XETs which require xylosylation at subsite position+1; in stark contrast, HTG appears to prefer un-xylosylated Glc residues there. However, despite this preference for non-xylosylation at +1, the complete inability to utilise GGXXXGol indicates that xylosylation at +2 is a necessity for the HTG protein's activity. This requirement for xylosylation at +2 is consistent with the inability of the protein to utilise related non-xylosylated oligosaccharides such as cellohexaitol and the various MLG oligosaccharides.

Given that donor substrate specificity results indicate the HTG protein favours MLG as a donor substrate over xylolgucan, these results confirm that it is a predominant hetero-transglucanase. While it is able to catalyse XET activity (xyloglucan-to-xyloglucan; FIG. 6), it appears completely unable to catalyse MLG-MLG endotransglycosylation at all, as shown in FIG. 7 by the inability to utilise MLG oligosaccharides.

It is likely that the HTG protein has similar acceptor substrate specificity when cellulose is used as donor.

This makes HTG the first plant enzyme whose preferred reaction is hetero-endotransglycosylation, and the first endotranglycosylase that favours MLG as a substrate.

Acceptor substrate specificity was also tested for the different donor substrates alkali-treated paper, mixed-linkage glucan, and xyloglucan. It was observed that XXXGol was a strong acceptor with alkali-treated paper and with mixed-linkage glucan as donor, but that the transglycosylation with GGGGol was much less efficient (see FIG. 11).

Substrate Specificity of the Recombinant HTG for Different Cellulosic Substrates

HTG-catalysed transglycosylation with [3H]XXXGol as acceptor-substrate and various donor-substrates was tested in presence and absence of BSA, and with mixed-linkage glucan as control (see FIG. 10). It was observed that, under optimized conditions, the HTG had an XET:MXE activity ratio of ˜1:7. It was also observed that water-soluble cellulose acetate was only a weak donor, but that HTG had remarkable CXE activity on (insoluble) cellulose. Over 94% of a radioactive CXE product resisted solubilisation in 6M NaOH at 37° C. (data not shown), indicating firm integration within the fibres. BSA strongly promoted the CXE reaction on alkali-treated paper and on plain paper.

Affinity of the Recombinant HTG for XXXGol

The affinity of recombinant HTG for XXXGol was determined by determining the reaction rate (fmol/h) with mixed-linkage glucan and xyloglucan as donor, at different concentrations of XXXGol. It was found that the K_(M) for XXXGol with mixed-linkage glucan as donor-substrate was 0.52±0.06 μM, and the K_(M) for XXXGol with xyloglucan as donor-substrate was 3.4±0.4 μM. This shows that HTG has a much higher affinity for XXXGol than do XTHs (K_(M) ˜50-200 μM).

The affinity of recombinant HTG for soluble donor-polysaccharides was determined by measuring the ³H incorporation rate at different concentrations polysaccharides. The results are shown in Table 7.

TABLE 7 Vmax and Km values of recombinant HTG for different soluble donor polysaccharides Donor polysaccharide Vmax (Bq/kBq/h) K_(M) (mg/ml) xyloglucan 0.626 ± 0.057 0.226 ± 0.077 barley-mixed-linkage glucan 7.59 ± 0.60 1.25 ± 0.32 water-soluble cellulose acetate 0.29 ± 0.03 1.65 ± 0.60 Iceland-moss mixed-linkage glucan 0.098 ± 0.014 3.05 ± 1.15

Table 7 shows that HTG has a lower affinity for barley-MLG than for xyloglucan. Iceland-moss MLG, largely comprising cellotriosyl repeat-units, was a poor donor-substrate. Thus HTG probably recognises cellotetraosyl repeat-units, which occur in barley-MLG and predominate in Equisetum-MLG.

EXAMPLE 5: TRANSFORMATION OF PLANTS WITH HTG

A T-DNA vector is constructed encoding a fusion protein of the 27 amino acids signal sequence of the alpha-amylase 3 gene from rice (Sutcliff et al., 1991, Plant Mol Biol 16:579) and amino acids 22 to 280 of SEQ ID NO: 2 under control of the Cauliflower Mosaic Virus 35S promoter.

Wheat plants are transformed with the T-DNA vector encoding the HTG fusion protein. It is observed that the transformed wheat plants have increased stem strength, resulting in an improved stem lodging resistance, and an increased pathogen resistance.

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1-19. (canceled)
 20. A method for producing a cellulosic material with improved properties, the method comprising contacting, in the presence of xyloglucan (oligosaccharide), or in the presence of xyloglucan (oligosaccharide) to which an organic or inorganic molecule is covalently attached, cellulosic material with an effective amount of a protein of having cellulose:xyloglucan endotransglucosylase activity comprising
 1. the amino acid sequence of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 2, 6 and 8 or a functional fragment thereof; or
 2. an amino acid sequence having at least 60% sequence identity to the sequence of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 2, 6 and 8, or
 3. an amino acid sequence having at least 60% sequence identity to the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 from amino acid 22 to 280, or to the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 6 from amino acid 26 to 283, or to the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 8 from amino acid 29 to
 287. 21. (canceled)
 22. The method of claim 20, wherein the cellulosic material is selected from or comprised in fabric, paper, a cellulose derivative, packaging, building material, thickening agents, a medical dressing, cellophane, dialysis tubing and resin for chromatography columns.
 23. (canceled)
 24. Cellulosic material produced by the method of claim
 20. 25. Cellulosic material comprising cellulose covalently attached to xyloglucan oligosaccharides via a glycosidic bond.
 26. The cellulosic material of claim 25, wherein an organic or inorganic molecule is covalently attached to said xyloglucan or xyloglucan oligosaccharides. 27-30. (canceled)
 31. The method of claim 20, wherein the protein having cellulose:xyloglucan endotransglucosylase activity comprises: an amino acid sequence having at least 90% sequence identity to the sequence of any one of SEQ ID Nos: 2, 6 and 8; an amino acid sequence having at least 90% sequence identity to the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 from amino acid 22 to 280, or having at least 90% sequence identity to the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 6 from amino acid 26 to 283, or having at least 90% sequence identity to the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 8 from amino acid 29 to
 287. 32. Cellulosic material produced by the method of claim
 22. 